Keeping the Magic Alive for Children With Life-Threatening Illnesses

We are all connected to a child with a life-threatening illness through six degrees or less. Whether you are impacted directly, or indirectly, these children touch our hearts with their immense bravery, strength and courage. Give Kids The World Village exists to ensure that these children and their families are given that extra bit of hope, happiness and love to confront the immense challenges of living with a life-threatening illness.

27,000 Children Are Diagnosed With a Life-Threatening Illness Each Year

Each year 27,000 children between the ages of 3-18 are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Of those children who are eligible for a wish through their local wish granting organization, about half wish to visit a Central Florida attraction or theme park. Before Give Kids The World Village existed, many wishes were going unfulfilled because the planning and logistics were taking too much time.

To date, 140,000 families have fulfilled their wish at Give Kids The World Village. Last year, Give Kids The World Village served 7,474 families, and they will serve even more in 2015.

“We have an incredible vacation planning team that plans every aspect of a child’s wish to Central Florida, including transportation, attraction tickets, and accommodations in a villa at Give Kids The World Village or a partner hotel. We can proudly say that we can accommodate a wish within 24-hours, so that a child’s which to Central Florida will never go unfulfilled.”

How You Can Help Create the Happiness That Inspires Hope

Give Kids The World Village is the number one destination for wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses, and each year, the number of children Give Kids The World needs to serve significantly increases.

As a 74-acre property equipped with 144 villas, entertainment venues, eateries, and much more, Give Kids The World plans to expand its Village over the next few years, by adding 24 villas so they can accommodate the rising number of children wishing to come to Central Florida. In order to complete this expansion, and continue providing the vacation of a lifetime to children who wish to visit Central Florida and experience all the magic it has to offer, Give Kids The World Village needs support from donors. Workplace giving campaigns are a wonderful way companies can help.

Every donation matters in keeping the magic alive for children living with a life-threatening illness. In addition to helping fund Give Kids The World’s expansion, here are some other ways employee donations can help Give Kids The World fulfill wishes:

• $25 can provide a family with unlimited ice cream from our infamous Ice Cream Palace. The Ice Cream Palace opens at 7:30 in the morning and serves frozen treats all day. Families can enjoy hot fudge sundaes, milkshakes and more! We provide various options, like soy-based and rice-based ice cream, so we can accommodate many different diets.
• $50 can help support our horseback riding and fishing programs. Every Wednesday and Saturday morning our families can enjoy a horseback ride around Keaton’s Korral. Families can also request fishing equipment and test out their skills in our stocked pond.
• $100 can help fund our daily entertainment parties. At the Village, each night brings another reason to celebrate. For example, every Monday, our families participate in Halloween, and every Thursday, we have our Winter Wonderland. (A certain special guest from the North Pole visits with each family.) We also host BBQ pool-parties at our wheel-chair accessible pool, a Village Idol competition, and a Pirates and Princesses Party (swashbuckling encouraged)!
• $250 can support our daily gift-giving program. While wish families are enjoying themselves at the theme parks, the GKTW Gift Giving Fairy visits each villa and leaves special gifts for the families to enjoy when they return. Many of these gifts are personalized for each child to make it that more special.
• $1,000 can help preserve the memorable, joyful, moments of a family’s special wish trip. Each family receives camera gear so that they can photograph and record their favorite memories at GKTW Village and the neighboring theme parks. Volunteers also snap photos of our families during their stay at GKTW Village. Each family is given a disc to take home so they can cherish their favorite memories forever.
• $5,000 can provide a family’s weeklong, cost-free, wish-fulfilling trip to Give Kids The World Village. A wish-fulfilling trip at GKTW Village can have a dramatic effect on a family, giving them time away from a hectic schedule of doctor’s appointments and treatments to focus on each other and strengthen family bonds to sustain them throughout their life’s journey. 

What form of happiness will your donation make? #GiveAtWork to @GKTWvillage http://t.co/Bjt3RWsV8k CFC #11874 pic.twitter.com/Tp1KZYNaey

— America’s Charities (@AmerCharities) September 23, 2015

Join America’s Charities, now through December, as we highlight different nonprofits and share how individuals and companies can Shape the Future of various causes through workplace giving programs.  

Our thanks to Give Kids The World Village for sharing their mission and impact with us.  You can learn more about their work by visiting their website at www.gktw.org. To support their efforts, please donate to Give Kids The World Village through your company’s workplace giving program (CFC# 11874 if you’re a Federal employee participating in the Combined Federal Campaign). 

If your company would like to start a workplace giving program to support nonprofits like Give Kids The World, click here.