what volunteer activity did you do for your GAD pass?

[Hillbeans]

I worked a bingo event at a Specialized hospital - it was fun. There were probably 40 residents there and we played for about 1.5 hours.

 

[ttree]

Spent 8 hrs picking up trash along a highway. Long day and nasty trash. Met great people.

 

[octoberprincess]

My mother and I volunteered to be "paparazzi" to cheer on the attendees at the Creative Black Tie Gala for the Make a Wish foundation last night. It was great fun seeing the reactions of the people attending as everyone cheered them on and took pics of them. Some of them really got into it =)

 

[Virtucomp]

We volunteeered for a state high school robotics competition. The high schools build robots that must compete in tasks for points. The winners go on to regionals and then the nationals. One of our high schools is now going on to the nationals.

It was an all day task. I was the head referee. It is a great experience for students to design and build. They also get judged on their teamwork and sportsmanship. They also provide a journal of their project to judges.

 

[EvilQueenT]

FANTASTIC! It sounds like people had a lot of great experiences! I hope they consider doing it again next year. It closed soooo fast. We signed up in early March and within a day or so disney closed the program. Have a great time using your passes! You've all earned them!!!

 

[MasonDuo]

We just completed our volunteer activity last night. We volunteered at the Milwaukee Public Auction answering phones from 6:30 to midnight. It was a great time and DH was on TV as a table captain.

 

[amery]

My wife, MIL & i choose to make blankets through Binky Patrol.

At the end of the day, we wanted something that wouldn't be overly complicated or laborious. We printed up a bunch of design templates, went out and bought the materials, set aside our day and had a fund time, measuring, cutting, pinning and tying.

When all was said and done, we had some really cool blankets that are presumeably in well-deserving hands these days.

We're thinking of doing this again just for fun.

 

[Supermom3]

We did Story Time from the Front Lines through the USO. It was something even DS6 & DS10 could participate in. We collected children's books and mailed them to Quatar where the USO makes a DVD of the soldier reading the children's book. The book is then mailed to that soldier's kids, so that they can see and hear their parent reading them a bedtime story. I would definitely do this again.

 

[OhioWDWDuo]

DH and I volunteered at an elementary school book fair- helping the kids pick out their books, working the cash register, restocking the shelves, etc. It was hard work but fun and rewarding!

We're looking forward to using our GAD fastpasses in September!

 

[doconeill]

We volunteeered for a state high school robotics competition. The high schools build robots that must compete in tasks for points. The winners go on to regionals and then the nationals. One of our high schools is now going on to the nationals.

It was an all day task. I was the head referee. It is a great experience for students to design and build. They also get judged on their teamwork and sportsmanship. They also provide a journal of their project to judges.

Sounds like the FIRST competition - member of the 1993 Sportsmanship Award team here (I was one of the adult mentors, back when it was a relatively small one weekend event in NH). I think in was 1999 that the championship was actually held in a makeshift stadium in the Epcot parking lot!

I saw that opportunity, but from what I remember it seemed like you had to be there each weekend for several, and I would have loved to go back but I wasn't available one of the weekends.

We finally did ours this past weekend. I think we had probably the easiest opportunity imaginable. We basically stuffed a small stuffed animal (which we purchased) and then donated the animal to go to needy children. It took no more than 15 minutes. We even paid for one for our 5yo to stuff and donate even though she didn't qualify for GAD.

 

[pixarmom]

We made fleece blankets for Project Linus!! Our local chapter was not participating, so after we made the blankets we delivered them to the monthly chapter meeting of a participating chapter. It was a great day trip for our family, really nice to meet the other volunteers and the coordinators and learn more about Project Linus.

We used our GAD last month, and upgraded to APs. Really nice to get the GAD buttons - several cast members thanked us for participating and asked us about our volunteer work. One CM said we're "five of the lucky million!" It was nice to have the opportunity to spread the word about Project Linus at WDW. And it was nice for our boys to receive such positive reinforcement for all the work they did selecting fabrics, learning to make blankets, working on the blankets and making cards for the recipients and road-tripping to the monthly meeting!

After we returned, I contacted our local chapter so that we could continue to work on and donate blankets. I teach Sunday School, and our class is currently working on more blankets for our local chapter. This was a wonderful experience for our entire family, and we appreciate the opportunity to get involved with Project Linus!!!

 

[gw_lit]

We (DW, DS11, DS8 and myself) volunteered at the Arkansas Foodbank Network. During the first two hours we labeled cans of corn. With donations the foodbank will buy "blanks" (canned foods without labels) and apply the labels themselves. I didn't realize how much cheaper it was by doing this. So, we labeled cans, packed boxes and loaded them onto pallets for 2 hours. The next 2 hours we spent rearranging producst and stocking shelves for individuals items.

It really was a great experience for all of us, and I think it really made an impression on the boys seeing all of this food in a huge warehouse that is donated to people. DS8 said, "Wow... I guess a lot of people can't buy food." Unfortunately... so true.

The great thing is we've formed a relationship with those at the foodbank and will be continuing to volunteer there.

 

[cat_herder]

Feed people at a homeless shelter. Everyone was so nice to us, just about everyone in line thanked us. We will go back and help again without even without Disney tickets.

 

[bsjs0708]

Our store partnered with Disney on the Beautification project for the Boys and Girls Club of Dallas. I work for the Disney Store so if y'all wanna see me and some of me fellow castmembers there is a picure of us on the GAD website under the pictures of the different cities. I am the girl with the "cheesy" grin standing behind Mickey....However...I haven't been on that site for a while so I am not sure if it is still there...I should probably check..huh?

 

[churchpilot]

We had 3 families volunteer for the Lydia Project. They donate handmade, embroidered totes to women diagnosed with cancer. Anyone can request one for family members or friends and they will mail it to them. On the day of our service, we had a huge snow storm (by Georgia standards) and they cancelled us. We were supposed to clean up and organize their building. Instead we did a fundraiser over two weeks and gave them all of the stuff they need to keep their office running and the items they stuff into the bags (lotions, pads, pens, note cards, hand sanitizer, etc.). It has turned into a repeat volunteering opportunity, so Disney has done a great thing. We used our GAD's as FP during our April 1-April 10th trip and they were wonderful!!! Thank you Disney and Lydia Project!!!

 

[saintstickets]

DW and I helped one Saturday with Habitat-For-Humanity building a house for a woman that lost hers during Hurricane Katrina. We were awfully sore by the end of the day but it was worth it.

 

[enn]

Volunteered at a local animal shelter, walking dogs and helping with the puppies -- so fun!

 

[glocon]

We were supposed to work with the health dept to make picture frames to give to the people who helped with flu vaccinations, but that was cancelled. We ended up helping out at a health and wellness fair for 2 hours, where we educated children on the importance of wearing bicycle helmets. My son really learned the importance of volunteering!

 

[Minnie1156]

I did my volunteer work on Sat. My DH, DD, and DD boyfriend and I wen to Bancroft School in Haddonfield NJ. It is a school for Mentaly challanged children and adults. We helped clean the grounds of the school. It was so nice knowing you were making a difference. It was very rewarding!!

 

[devinfl]

i worked a concession stand at a Mets Spring Training game where 15% of profits went to the Habitat for Humanity.