Give Kids The World Village Creates Magic and Memories for Families Facing Life-Threatening Illnesses

Every year, 27,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. For these children, childhood is overshadowed by doctor visits, hospital stays, and medical treatments. Time to laugh and play is lost, as their parents and siblings worry and care for a sick child.

Give Kids The World Village welcomes these families to a place of magic and warmth. At the Village, surprises await around every corner, and visiting families are surrounded by laughter, hope, and joy for an unforgettable week.

Since 1986, more than 152,000 children from around the world have had their wishes fulfilled at the nonprofit, storybook resort. Give Kids The World Village is located near Orlando’s beloved theme parks and attractions. When children facing life-threatening illnesses wish to visit Central Florida, the Village becomes their home-away-from home for a cost-free, weeklong escape.

The 79-acre Village features 168 fully-accessible villas. Visiting families enjoy an enchanted carousel, a castle, a child-size train, wheelchair-accessible pools, a CANDY LAND playground, a miniature golf course, unlimited ice cream, and more. There are activities every night, and every week, Give Kids The World celebrates Halloween, Christmas, and the birthday of Mayor Clayton, the six-foot rabbit who serves as the Village’s honorary leader.

Give Kids The World provides everything families need to make their visit memorable. There is never any cost to families, and no child is ever turned away. Visiting families say the Village is the place where happiness inspires hope.

“We talk about our trip quite often, and Ella always mentions how she wishes she was still there,” wrote one wish mom in a recent letter to the Village. “Thank you for providing us with the opportunity to create memories that will last a lifetime.”

How You Can Help

Give Kids The World Village is the number-one destination for wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses. Every hour, Give Kids The World fulfills a wish to visit Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld Orlando, or other Central Florida attractions.

The Village is committed to providing accommodations for families so long as there is a need. Give Kids The World relies on generous donors to support our mission. Workplace giving campaigns are wonderful ways companies can help.

Every donation helps a child facing a life-threatening illness. Give Kids The World Village is recognized as a top-performing, Four-Star Charity by Charity Navigator, and more than 93 cents of every dollar we spend goes directly to programs for the children and families we serve. Here are some examples of how your donations help Give Kids The World can create magic and memories for our guests:

• $25 can help provide a family with unlimited ice cream from our beloved Ice Cream Palace. The Ice Cream Palace opens at 7:30 every 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, our families enjoy horseback rides at Keaton’s Korral. Families can also request fishing equipment and try their luck in our stocked pond.
• $100 can help fund our daily entertainment parties. At the Village, we celebrate every night – Halloween on Mondays, Christmas on Thursdays, pool parties, parades, the Village Idol talent show. There’s always something going on!
• $250 helps support our daily gift-giving program. While wish families visit the theme parks, GKTW Gift-Giving Fairies visits each villa, leaving gifts to surprise the families when they return. Often, gifts are personalized for each child to make them even more special.
• $1,000 helps preserve the joyful moments of each family’s wish trip. Every family receives a CD loaded with photos of their adventures at Give Kids The World. DVDs, printers, and camera gear are needed to provide this gift to families.

Visit gktw.org to learn more about our mission and make a gift that makes a difference brave kids. You can even can double your impact at GKTW. Find out if your company matches donations here.

Support Give Kids The World’s work through a well-designed employee giving program:

As Give Kids The World’s workplace giving partner, America’s Charities can help your company design and implement a program centered on supporting their work – through workplace giving campaigns, employee fundraising, cause-focused signature programs, volunteerism, matching gifts, Dollars-for-Doers, In-Kind Giving and other employee engagement and philanthropic initiatives. Click here to request a demo and learn how we can help you do this.