What Your Donation Can Do....

So we begin week 2 of our fundraising effort to literally Give Kids The World.   We have reached 13% of our goal of $15,000 for the Give Kids The World Village in our very first week!  That is so exciting!

I hope you were able to read my first post about the Village, and what we are trying to do.  You can also "Like" the Disney Fans Give Kids The World Facebook page.  To donate, you can go to our First Giving donation page.  

I sent out a challenge of getting 100 of my friends to donate $10.00.  I am so happy and proud that I have so many friends who have already donated to this cause.  It is much appreciated!

I think the best testimony for this Village comes from those that have been there.  I am copying a letter and some photos from Jason Sperry.  One of my fellow Disney-Loving Fans was fortunate enough to have met the Sperry family as their daughter, Sereena, was spending time at GKTW.  Please see below:

Hello. My name is Jason Sperry and I just want to try to give you a little bit of what Give Kids the World has meant to me. My youngest daughter was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia in September 2010.  This was the worst day of my life. My beautiful little princess who I cared for and protected from all of life's terrible things was now in a situation that I had absolutely no control over. I was devastated to say the least but I knew I must remain strong for my daughter.

The next  8 months went by at a snail's pace. We started with weekly visits to the hospital for chemotherapy and slowly advanced to bi-weekly and then to every 3 weeks and finally we hit the maintenance phase of only going in every 4 weeks. It was at this time that Make a Wish approached my daughter Sereena and asked her to think about the one thing she would really like to do. It took her all of about 5 minutes to come up with the answer of going to Disney! After all she is a princess! Well the plans were made and the date was set. All we had to do now is hope that her blood counts would stay good enough to keep her out of the hospital and we would be on her dream trip.

The day for the trip came, the blood counts were great and the limo was waiting. Sereena's smile lit up the city that day. I was so happy that we had to drive to an out of town airport instead of the one that was only 20 min away because as Sereena put it "all modern princesses travel by limo!" We got to the airport, hopped in the plane and were off to a place we knew little about. We had seen the brochure and looked at the website but nothing could prepare us for what truly is the most amazing place on earth, Give Kids the World Village.

We pulled into the village and were greeted promptly. The volunteers were amazing from the start and only got better as the week went on. This was the first time the trip turned from Sereena's into the whole family's. They stressed that this week the whole family needed to take a break and not worry about a thing. Anything we could want or need was only a phone call away. They weren't kidding! The volunteers at Give Kids the World are the best.

Ice Cream for Breakfast!!

We stayed there for a week and did all the things that most visitors do. We went to the theme parks! This is the reason we went in the first place. Well I'm here to tell you that after 2 days of theme parks little miss Sereena was wore out. She didn't want to leave the village again.  Now is when the magic of this place really started showing up.  We went to the ice cream parlor we had heard so much about. Unlimited ice cream all day long. Who doesn't love that?  We went to Dino putt-putt. Yep, Sereena beat me pretty bad that day. We went to the arcade and did the horse back riding. The all access pool and water park was one of her favorites. Mayor Clayton's birthday party and even Village Idol! We did everything the Village has to offer but there is one building in the village that I am forever thankful for because it brought such joy to my daughter! The Castle of Miracles! Sereena would have stayed in here from sun up till sun down every day of the week. She had a nail salon, all the coloring books and crayons she could ever want, a tree that was magic and could make pillows, a wishing well, a ceiling full of stars with names,  and to top it all off there was even a carousel to ride on! Ya, Sereena was in heaven at The Castle of Miracles and so was I just seeing the joy it brought to her. 

Sereena's Star for the Enchanted Castle

I will forever be grateful for the wonderful and truly inspirational time that we had at Give Kids the World Village. This one week of care free life that was given to us after the 8 months of total chaos that we went through before hand was such a relief. Talking to the volunteers and other guests really gave me that extra push I needed to be strong for Sereena in her final 17 months of chemotherapy. I never knew a place like this existed and now that I do I will never forget it! We are planning a return trip there, only this time we will be volunteers and will hope that Sereena's story of survival will help some other families at Give Kids the World Village who just need that little bit of positive reinforcement.

Forever grateful,

Jason Sperry

Give Kids The World

    In the Beth Moore book, So Long, Insecurity,  she advises you to identify what makes you scared or insecure, and see yourself getting through it.  Because I am definitely a planner, I think that is great advice.  I have imagined myself on the other side of Heath having an affair (boy, would he regret that!).  I’ve seen myself living through his death, my parents passing away, a personal illness, and many other scary scenarios. 

    However, there is one fear I have that is just too great to even imagine.  I cannot imagine either of my boys facing a life-threatening illness.  For all of the things that I take for granted in my life (food, shelter, clothes, love) that is the one thing I remember to thank God for every single night.  In fact, I like to imagine that God has my two boys enclosed in a safety bubble.  And even as I try to control so much of their lives, I am fully aware that I really have no control at all.

      I try to imagine what life would be like if my world was turned upside down, and our every minute was spent wondering if our son would live or die.  If all of our financial resources were used trying to give him every chance to live.  If our days were spent visiting doctor after doctor instead of playing soccer and tennis and baseball.  If my precious baby boy had to endure the physical pain of being sick, along with the poking and prodding that came with all of our attempts to make him better. 
   
    Millions of families face this every day.  And while there is no way for me to know exactly how they feel, I can imagine that all they want is to see their child happy.  They can’t control the actual illness, but they can try in every possible way to see their child smile and laugh and be carefree...the way all children should be. 

    This is where you and I come in.  There is a place in Central Orlando, called Give Kids The World Village.  It was founded by Henri Landwirth, a hotelier in Orlando who was known to help sick children fulfill their dreams of visiting theme parks in that area.  As a hotelier, he helped countless children fulfill this dream, until one day, a trip took too long to plan and a little girl named Amy died before ever getting to see her wish come true.  He decided that should never happen again and he went to work.

     Today, thanks to Henri, there is a whole Village.  It is a 70-acre resort with over 140 Villa accommodations.  It has entertainment attractions, whimsical buildings and plenty of fun that is specially designed for children with special needs.  Because of generous donations and sponsors, Give Kids the World Village has been home to more than 115,000 families from all 50 states and over 70 countries.
    
      In September, I am going to visit the Give Kids The World Village with a few other of my Disney-loving friends who also happen to be on the Disney Moms Panel with me.   If you know me, you know that Disney World is a very special place to me.  I have so many wonderful memories of fun times there with my family, and that is why I am teaming with my friends to try and raise funds so that families facing really bad times will be able to have a little bit of magic in their lives.  Magic and fun that they otherwise could not afford. 

   

Amberville

     TODAY IS LAUNCH DAY FOR OUR FUNDRAISING EFFORT!  OUR GOAL IS $15,000.  

We chose today because on April 18th, 2012, Give Kids The World will celebrate more than 2 million volunteer hours served!  That is an amazing achievement and also a testament to the dedication of those that feel passionately about the mission of the Village. 


     I hope that this has touched your heart and you feel led to help us reach our goal.  93 cents of every dollar donated will be used to fulfill a child's dream.  All donations will be tax deductible and you will get a receipt for it no matter how you choose to pay (online or by check). 


To make a donation, visit our Giving Website .  You can also read more about Give Kids The World and learn about some really exciting prizes and drawings that will be happening in our efforts to raise money.

Also, be sure and "like" the Disney Fans Give Kids The World Facebook page!

Join our conversation on Twitter!  #DisneyFansGKTW

      Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!  I really, sincerely appreciate it.  I would like to share the words of one mom whose family visited Give Kids The World.  This and so many other testimonies are in the book “In a Perfect World” that is available at the GKTW shop online.....

    “When you are faced with the heartache of watching your child die, you wonder why the world still continues on, oblivious to your pain.  Some days are good, others are really, really bad.  For 6 days, at a Village made for kids like him, we did not wonder what tomorrow holds.  We lived each day, oblivious ourselves to our son’s condition.  We felt no pain, cried only tears of happiness, and for one week, we were normal and the rest of the world was different.” 

WATCH A VIDEO ALL ABOUT GIVE KIDS THE WORLD VILLAGE

To see more photos of the Give Kids The World Village, click here!

Please read about how each child that visits Give Kids The World Village gets to make a wish on their very own star  to be given to the Star Fairy and then placed on the ceiling at the "Enchanted Castle of Miracles"...