MiceChat needs your support. Next week (Sept 12th), we’ll participate in a fundraiser for one of our favorite charities, GIVE KIDS THE WORLD. The Blogger Bowl will feature writers and staff of some of your favorite web sites, all of whom have come together to help kids in need and their families. While team MiceChat doesn’t have a single good bowler in the bunch, that’s not really what the event is about, it’s about helping kids. And we’d very much like to do well in that part of the challenge.
Unfortunately, MiceChat got a late start and we’re behind in the donations race. If you have a few dollars to support this wonderful charity you’ll not only aid a lot of families in need, but help MiceChat make a good showing at the event as well. Support Team MiceChat HERE.
You can track our progress and that of all the teams HERE
Give Kids The World (GKTW) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing magical theme park vacations to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. Give Kids The World Village is a 70-acre resort that is designed through the eyes of a child and immerses kids in a world of joy, hope, laughter and non-stop fun near Central Florida’s world-class attractions.
We’d like to share a bit more information about the charity so you can see why it is so special to us and why we believe in their mission.
The story of Give Kids The World begins with a little girl with a wish and the desire of one man to make that wish come true.
The little girl’s name was Amy. Amy had leukemia and one wish – to visit the theme parks in Orlando. To facilitate Amy’s wish, the request of a complimentary stay was made to a respected hotelier. As he had done many times before, the hotelier gladly obliged and Amy’s wish was that much closer to being realized. Sadly, the remainder of Amy’s travel plans took too long to arrange and her wish was never granted; Amy had passed away. Time simply ran out.
This unfulfilled wish inspired a man, the hotelier, to make a vow that no child in need would ever be failed again. That man was Henri Landwirth and his desire to ensure that Amy’s story would never repeat itself is where the story of Give Kids The World begins.
MiceChat recently published an interview with Give Kids The World Public Relations Manager, Colette Krahenbuhl:
MiceChat: How would you describe the mission of Give Kids the World?
Collette Krahenbuhl: It is a very simple mission, it is to provide the happiness that inspires hope, and we do that through picking a child and putting them in an environment of pure happiness. We do not say no to anything, if you want to have 8 ice cream sundaes for breakfast the answer is yes! … If you want to have just ice cream for dinner, or if you want to ride the carousel 25 times and then swim in the pool and then go to Disney, and comeback and see Santa, we can make that happen!
… Our Mission is to provide one week for the family where they don’t have to worry about the medical bills piling up, they don’t have to worry about the doctors visits .. put the weight on our shoulders and we’ll make these magical memories. We truly believe that when you are really really happy you can conquer the world. If we can provide that happiness to that child, they might have the power to go back home and fight their illness.
As the program expanded and the number of families continued to grow, it was apparent that Give Kids The World would need to create a place that could better serve the special needs of our families. The gates of Give Kids The World Village opened in 1989.
Today the Village is a 70-acre resort complete with over 140 Villa accommodations, entertainment attractions, whimsical venues, and fun specifically designed for children with special needs.
With the help of many generous individuals, corporations and partnering wish-granting organizations, Give Kids The World has welcomed more than 122,000 families from all 50 states and over 74 countries.
MC: What do volunteers do at the Give Kids the World Complex?
CK: We can accommodate up to 140 families at our facility. In order to operate and keep costs down, we rely on volunteers to provide some of the required services. Starting at the moment the family arrives at the village helping them check-in, helping them with a family orientation, putting them on a golf cart and driving them to their villa, serving them breakfast and dinner in the Ginger Bread House Restaurant, clearing their plates, operating the carousel, train, serving ice cream, and every night when they get from the theme parks [thanks to complimentary admissions]… the village comes to life with a party, like Halloween, Christmas, Village Idol, Pirates and Princess, the World’s Largest Candyland Game, we rely on volunteers to put on these events, to partake in the dressing up, trick or treating, face painting. Every week more than 1,400 shifts are filled by our “angels” or volunteers.
CK: Knowing that you made a difference for a child with a life threatening illness and their family. A family could have come from three weeks in a hospital and hearing the answer “NO.” No, from insurance companies, no from doctors, and all of a sudden they ask you a question and you answer YES! I believe that from the moment you walk into the gates at Give Kids the World, you become a better person. I have seen it day in and day out, and there is something about the village that brings out the best in each person. Everyone has that side of them that is the best person they can be… and when they come through the gates at Give Kids the World you become selfless, giving and happy.
Event Information:
- Where: Splitsville | DOWNTOWN DISNEY® West Side Orlando, Florida
- Date: Thursday, September 12, 2013
- Time: 11:00 a.m. -2:00 p.m.
If you are able to attend the Blogger Bowl to cheer on Team MiceChat, that would be wonderful, but even if you can’t, you can still do the most important thing of all, make a donation. Support Team MiceChat and Give Kids The World HERE.
Please do us the favor of sharing this post with your friends and family, you never know who out there might just be looking for an opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child. Thank you for your love and support everyone. MiceChatters have big hearts.
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