The Give a Day Thread~Share Your Experience

[mymainmouse]

I just wanted to put a big "Thank-You" in this thread for all who have volunteered. The organization that my husband directs has had MANY more volunteers because of the Give a Day promo. So many volunteers that the things I usually volunteer for weekly for are filled up until May. I guess I am getting a break. Some people are driving quite a distance to volunteer. Yesterday a family drove 1 1/2 hours!
Thanks again to everyone who has volunteered in your area!

 

[Mikelly1221]

My family and I brought and handed out the snack at our local Boys/Girls Club and we had so much fun! My kids enjoyed playing with the kids. We're going to find a day to go back and do it again!

 

[Vavy]

We received a call back yesterday from our local Habitat for Humanity. I told them that it would Just be my husband and son(16) because of the minimumage requirement. They asked what I would be doing and I told them I was searching for another opportunity so I can do something with our 8 year old daughter. They agreed to lower the minimum age requirement so she could volunteer there too! So now all four of us get to volunteer at the Habitat Restore together on April 3!

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We just got back from our GAD experience! We were assigned a few streets in a neighborhood where we dropped off flyers for a food drive. This morning we returned to pick up food left on the porches. Then we took it to the collection center.

What a fun activity for my family.


The difficult thing was telling my kids that we would be donating our tickets. lol They don't know about our "surprise" trip in August! These fastpasses will really come in handy during the August heat.

Thanks, Disney!

 

[Melknor]

We also did ours this weekend. I volunteered us to make breakfast casseroles for the Salvation Army to feed the homeless. There was not a requirement of how many to make. One for the three of us didn't seem near enough, so I decided we would each make 2. They go through 125 a week in our area.

Making these reminds us how blessed we are to have a kitchen to cook in, the resources to purchase the ingredients and the family time to prepare them together. Even DS4 who is technically not old enough to participate helped us. Once they are done baking (some are still in the oven), I will freeze them and then drop them off this next week.

I'm very glad that we decided to partake in some activity, even though we don't need the ticket (we are getting the FP option instead).

 

[itchin2go]

Update on my volunteering: My 8 year old daughter and I signed up to make Valentine's cards for elderly residents at a local rehab and nursing home. We spent several hours there on a Saturday morning. We actually helped some of the residents make cards for their loved ones, and we made additional cards for residents who couldn't/didn't participate. My daughter was SO good with the residents. She was very helpful and sweet, and I was very proud. When we left, she said, "That was actually fun. Can we do that every month?" SO cute. It's exactly a week later and my vouchers are printed and ready to go. The program is 100% successful in my eyes.

 

[beachgirl2000]

We did our volunteer work today. We went to the Jewish Relief Fund and boxed up food and then delivered it to 14 homes of people that needed the food -- It was a great experience and while it was jammed packed crowded, it was very organized and I would really go back and do it again just to volunteer my time. Very rewarding experience and a great time!

 

[Kazzy1548]

We have just received our vouchers today. Mailed our blankets last Wednesday. It was very quick.....

 

[VillageMama]

We did our volunteer project today and it was fantastic! We picked grapefruit for the Society of St. Andrew. They have farmers who donate their left-over crops to be given to food banks. We went out to a citrus farm and worked with about 30 other volunteers to pick the fruits that had not been harvested.

The day was sunny, 60s and clear. It was so much fun to pick the fruit and bag it. My daughters even spent the morning picking fruit with other little girls they met. They've exchanged addresses to be penpals.

We are down here in Florida on vacation but enjoyed ourselves so much that when we get home to Michigan, we are going to get involved with our local branch of the Society of St. Andrew.

What a great group and a wonderful way to spend a morning. My children asked if we could do this every week while we're here. We would have been happy to do this even without the Disney tickets, although we appreciate those, too.

 

[curemyreed]

We volunteered with an agency that has 14 community gardens where they grow food for those who need it. The garden we worked in was smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood in Houston. Due to the season, there were only a few things growing....cabbage, green onions, mustard greens. The garden had large expanses where there was cardboard with straw/mulch on top as well as plastic sheeting that had been down since late last year. Most of our time was spent gathering up the cardboard and redistributing the straw/mulch as well as bagging up the plastic sheeting. Additionally, we weeded & cleaned the lanes between the rows of soil awaiting spring planting. We started working just after 9 a.m. and wrapped up close to 1 p.m. It was me, DH, DS14, DS12, and DD8. DD was too young to earn a voucher for this project, so she will make Project Linus blankets with Mom.

I have to say that I was the most excited about doing the project, but DH seemed to be the most touched by the experience at day's end. He remarked several times how great it felt to physically labor at something that would benefit others & ended up being the most vocal of us about continuing to volunteer our help in growing nutritious, fresh food for others.

The oldest child was a diligent worker. The younger kids were skittish after their first run-ins with ant beds. All three definitely are city kids......happy to help, but also happy to get back to their non-buggy lives!

The elderly gentleman who is in charge of this community garden was there to direct everyone. What a treat that was! We spent a good while after we were done working the garden just listening to him speak about gardening & the environment. He explained why he believes the best fertilizer is composted leaves & explained in simple terms to us that the root system below the tree we were standing under might be as much as 1 1/2 times bigger than the part of the tree we could see. Then he talked about how the roots would take up minerals from the soil and these would end up within the leaves that the tree grows and how when the leaves come off the tree and break down again they are feeding the soil. He voiced how nitrogen-heavy manufactured fertilizers alter the natural balance of the earth & run into the water system and affect life there. It was just a real privilege to hear this learned man speak.

As for other volunteers...I didn't take a head count, but would estimate that there were 7-8 other families who were specifically there for the GAD project. (This group also has volunteers who are fulfilling required community service hours & I would guess there were a total of 5 folks doing non-GAD service today in the garden.) Everyone there worked hard at what they were doing & you could see a big difference in the garden by the time we were done for the day. It was rewarding to work the soil and also good fellowship to chat with the person next to you.....lots of good Disney tips/ideas being traded!

Hope others will continue to post their experiences. I believe Disney's GAD project will have others volunteering in ways they had never considered before, like we did today, and I feel sure many will continue to volunteer, as we plan to do.

 

[Priorityonecb]

Our family did our GAD project this morning. We worked sorting books for a new community library they are building. What an amazing feeling it will be to walk into the new library one day knowing we were a part of the "making". We plan to go back to help more when we can!

 

[JJ&JHsmom]

DD and I did our volunteer work yesterday at a children's museum. They were having a special activity for vacation week here in MA. We really had a great day helping the kids with this activity. We met some other volunteers who were also participating in the Give a Day Get a Day Program. I think this is a great program for places like this who need volunteers at certain times.

 

[cherokeemamma]

My family did our GAD volunteering today and had a great experience. We helped at an elementary school about an hour and a half away from our home. I believe there were about 200 volunteers ranging in age from 5 or 6 up to older adults. We had the choice to paint or do landscaping. My family chose painting. After lunch my DD and I worked in a clothing closet that the school sponsors...we sorted clothes and organized the space. I will say that some of the younger children were extremely messy with the painting (maybe there should be an age limit on who gets paint rollers...) and in turn caused more work on the clean up. Some of the kids were so cute with paint all over their face.

We met one family that would be making their first trip to WDW this year. The mom was single with two kids and they are so excited to be able to go to Disney and were only able to do so because of the GAD promo.

The school had some snacks including pastries, fruit, coffee and juice this morning. They served us lunch which consisted of hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken salad, tuna salad, pasta salad, chips, drinks, and a variety of desserts. Everything was homemade and they grilled the burgers and hot dogs at the school.

It was very well organized and the principal of the school was thanking us all and seemed so appreciative. It was really a great experience...we came home tired but happy!

 

[f.chadw]

My family did our volunt"ear" work today. It was definitely hard to find something that would accept my whole family as all 3 of my kids are under 16. We worked in a Thrift Store that raises money for programs for people with metal disabilities. They told us that the work we did helped raise $7000 for their programs. What a good feeling, and a good experience for the kids. Big savings for the trip in December.

 

[MickeysFans]

We also stuggled to find something to fit our ages and times, so I ended up signing up in another state to do a home project that we can mail in when we are done. Good luck

 

[cherokeemamma]

I agree with you; it was very hard to find something we could do together and and that would be just one day or on a weekend. I checked online early every morning and late each night. I seemed that every time I found something and would click to volunteer it would be fill up before I could submit. It was frustrating and would have loved to have found something close by in my community. I live in metro Atlanta but we had to go 62 miles away from home.

Does anyone know how you sign up an organization to get volunteers? We have a middle school in our area that could certainly use some sprucing up...

 

[GaPaige]

We just did ours this past Sunday. It was a family event at an agency that helps connect volunteers with projects. Each child had to bring a new Dr. Seuss book to donate. We watched a video about children who are homeless and the woman directing engaged the kids in a frank, but age appropriate discussion on homelessness. We then made and decorated a bunch of bookmarks that we then laminated and put in our donated books. These will be passed out today for Read Across America day (also Dr. Seuss' birthday) at homeless shelters throughout Atlanta.
This event really got my children thinking about homeless children and they want to help more. I am so thankful for GAD because I would never had known this agency existed without them.

 

[GrumpyFamilyof5]

There wasn't a whole lot to pick from in our area so the whole family wasn't able to do it,DD and I just this past week,along with her 4-H club, helped clean up the fence line along the trails at our local state park. We had fun and helped to keep our state park looking nice!
We look forward to our next trip, because of this great opportunity we added another day to our trip this summer. I thought I wasn't going to get my Disney fix this year, now I can. Thank-you Disney!!

 

[Andrea73]

We started our blankets last night. I am not a craft person and this is my 1st time making them. What makes me happy is my 8 year old daughter. She is SO excited about making blankets for other children in need. And she has no CLUE this has anything to do with Disney. The trip is a surprise and she thinks we are doing this simply because children need blankets. I think we may continue to make blankets after GAD. I am inspired by her giving heart.

 

[babydovesx2]

I have been watching the site for something my girls could do. There has not been any GAD opportunitities in our area that they were able to participate in. I recently found the Haiti Care Kits and realized it would be perfect. My oldest daughter has learned about the earthquake in school and has wanted to help the people of Haiti. Also DH (a US Marine) went to Haiti to help with the relief efforts. He showed us pictures and described the horrible destruction in that country. Our family went shopping on Saturday for the items for the Care Kits and put them together yesterday. My daughters made cards to put in each box (not sure if the cards will go anywhere but at least my daughters were able to express they care). After we finished the Kits we prayed as a family for all the victim of both Haiti and Chili. I did not tell my daughters that we were getting a day at Disney for free becuase I don't want them to feel like they have to get something everytime they give of themselves. It was a very rewarding experience for our entire family.