Give kids the world volunteer while in vacation

[monica9]

Has anyone ever volunteered at GKTW?
Has anyone volunteered while on vacation for a day with their family?

Thanks

 

[princesscinderella]

I am actually going to volunteer there all next week with my daughter whose school requires 60 hrs of community service and 1/2 of it has to be in the community not on the the school campus, so she will start school with 39 hours already completed. I definitely think you can go and volunteer for just a day or two while on vacation. Most shifts are broken up into three hour windows starting at 7:30 am so you can do that before heading to the parks or if you are rope drop people you can volunteer for the lunch/dinner shifts. They have a lot of availability to work in the cafe and then other shifts have age requirements where they need to be over 16 or 18. It will be indicated when you sign up. I was all set to volunteer there with my three kids early in the summer there but I got covid and there was no way I was going to risk getting those kids and their families sick so we had to cancel, not knowing if my kids were going to get covid after I did. My other two started school this week and she doesn’t start til the 29th so we are doing a mommy daughter trip.

 

[monica9]

I am actually going to volunteer there all next week with my daughter whose school requires 60 hrs of community service and 1/2 of it has to be in the community not on the the school campus, so she will start school with 39 hours already completed. I definitely think you can go and volunteer for just a day or two while on vacation. Most shifts are broken up into three hour windows starting at 7:30 am so you can do that before heading to the parks or if you are rope drop people you can volunteer for the lunch/dinner shifts. They have a lot of availability to work in the cafe and then other shifts have age requirements where they need to be over 16 or 18. It will be indicated when you sign up. I was all set to volunteer there with my three kids early in the summer there but I got covid and there was no way I was going to risk getting those kids and their families sick so we had to cancel, not knowing if my kids were going to get covid after I did. My other two started school this week and she doesn’t start til the 29th so we are doing a mommy daughter trip.

This is awesome. My daughters high school requires 100 hours. Was thinking of going even if just for half a day so my kids can experience helping these little ones.
I’d like my whole family to do it. It’s me, my husband my 14 year old and 6 year old. I’m wondering if they’d let my 6 year old jist tag along? If not, it might just be me and my 14 year old while the other two swim or something.

 

[princesscinderella]

This is awesome. My daughters high school requires 100 hours. Was thinking of going even if just for half a day so my kids can experience helping these little ones.
I’d like my whole family to do it. It’s me, my husband my 14 year old and 6 year old. I’m wondering if they’d let my 6 year old jist tag along? If not, it might just be me and my 14 year old while the other two swim or something.

It’s 10+ I believe for the age limit for volunteering. You need to create an account for each person, but only adults are allowed to see and select shifts. Once you have the shifts selected call the volunteer number and they will add the minors to your shifts in their account. My daughter needs 60 hours each year and wants to do drama which will require a lot of after school hours and she’s there on scholarship so she needs to keep her grades up. I don’t want her overwhelmed for her freshman year, they put so much pressure on these high school kids. We live in Florida and they require 100 hours over the 4 years to qualify for the bright futures scholarship paid for with the lottery fund. We went there over covid for the holiday lights and were so impressed with GKTW and have been excited to go help this truly great facility.

 

[kymom99]

I’ve been wanting to do this. I’ll be following to hear more experiences.

 

[HopperFan]

A different way to help, DS Track & Field team used to compete at Disney World WWOS each year. They were looking for a way to "volunteer" but knew it wasn't feasible. GKTW has a wish list of things they needed and one items was disposable cameras. The team did a "camera drive" and collected hundreds of cameras. I was driving to WDW with my other DS so we drove the boxes of cameras to the Village and dropped them all off. They used them to put in goodie bags for all the kids who come there.

https://www.gktw.org/pdf/help/gktw-inkind-list.pdf

 

[declansdad]

I have done it. I belong a a group that does it every year on their annual Disney trip in January. My one opportunity we all volunteered for a 4 hour breakfast shift in the meal hall. It was an amazing experience.

 

[princesscinderella]

I just wanted to give a follow up report on our volunteering at GKTW. To have the most interaction with the families staying there volunteer for a breakfast shift and evening activities shifts. Afternoons are pretty quiet there because most families are out and about at the theme parks. We are having a great time volunteering and meeting all the families.

 

[monica9]

I just wanted to give a follow up report on our volunteering at GKTW. To have the most interaction with the families staying there volunteer for a breakfast shift and evening activities shifts. Afternoons are pretty quiet there because most families are out and about at the theme parks. We are having a great time volunteering and meeting all the families.

Thanks! We just officially finished the orientation and are set up to now pick shifts. We are going in February and they told me the calendar won’t be updated for February until a couple months beforehand.
My daughter is 14 so I have to pick specific shifts. We definitely want to try to get into the jay 6pm to 9pm shift when they do a ton of night time activities.
I’m excited! I wish I lived closer so I can volunteer more

 

[princesscinderella]

Thanks! We just officially finished the orientation and are set up to now pick shifts. We are going in February and they told me the calendar won’t be updated for February until a couple months beforehand.
My daughter is 14 so I have to pick specific shifts. We definitely want to try to get into the jay 6pm to 9pm shift when they do a ton of night time activities.
I’m excited! I wish I lived closer so I can volunteer more

Yay!! It was such a nice experience and I too wish we lived closer and could help there more.