Give Kids The World took a direct hit

[teri]

Give Kids The World Village Website
GKTW Charity Navigator Rating
Give Kids The World took a direct hit from Hurricane Charley.

Now would probably be a good time for those of you who support this organization to send a donation. This organization is one of the highest rated wish charities, and is a popular place for castmembers and their families to do volunteer work. They took a direct hit, in one of the hardest hit areas of Osceola County.


From posts on a local board...

Give Kids the World Needs Volunteers
Give Kids the World is in need of volunteers to assist with clean-up around the Village. The Village sustained significant hurricane damage, and power has not yet been restored. If you can help with clean-up, please meet at the Gingerbread House during daylight hours, dressed for outside work (sturdy shoes, sunscreen, old clothing, and gloves if you have them). Call (407) 396-1114 ext. 290 with any questions.


If you are familiar with the Village - you know how many beautiful trees are on property. Unfortunately - many many of them have fallen or are badly broken. Several villas have trees on them and one area is impassable due to downed trees. Headway is being made - but it is very slow.

All families that were at the village have been moved to the Holiday Inn Family Suites. Believe it or not - we still have families arriving! They are being placed at Disney Hotels. The village is without power but we have been told it should be restored by the end of the week. Foundations have been told we hope to open again on Saturday.

All sorts of help is needed. All the villas are vacant and need to be cleaned and redone. ALL lawns and grass areas need to be raked. All limbs and such need to be hauled to the gates for pick up. Its alot of physical help that is needed and any bit that can be contributed will be greatly appreciated.

We do have phone service at the village but it would be best to coordinate the Celebration group through Joe. If you cannot join the group but want to help anyway at a different time - I guarantee if you show up - there will be something for you to do.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thank you for sharing this, teri.
I had not heard any news about what had happened to them. This is very sad and I hope they get a lot of support to help them clean up and repair their damage.

 

[GeekChic]

oh no what sad news! thank you for bringing this to our attention!!!

i hope they will be able to recover quickly...

geek

 

[meeshi]

Oh no. That's awful. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Absimilliard]

That Carousel was very nice and I know fragile they can be... Too bad I'm not in Florida anymore or else, I would volunteer on the spot to help refurbish the carousel...

 

[mommie2angels]

I hate this so bad! Thanks for letting us know about it Teri.

 

[rjmom]

Please continue to post any updates about GKTW. This is the first that I heard about the awful impact Hurricane Charley had on the village. We returned a week prior (Aug. 7) from a wonderful stay there and visit to Florida and the parks. My kids loved their daily rides on the Carousel, ice cream treats all hours of the day and playing the limitless arcade games. Plus, the spacious villa could never be matched by just any hotel room.

The grounds, too were impeccable and the many volunteers that traveled from near and far were always glad to assist.

 

[Anne MN]

I just talked to one of the directors at Make A Wish here in Minnesota and they got an e-mail that GKTW will be opening this weekend.

I asked some questions- I will have a new post for that-
too much to ad to this thread

just thought I would let everyone know the good news!

 

[scrapperjill]

OMG!!! That's awful. Were are heading there in a little over a week for our daughters wish tirp. I'll give eveyone an update when I get back on the condition of things.

 

[mommie2angels]

MAW emailed us and told us that GKTW was open and doing fine. Scrapperjill, I hope ya'll have a great trip! Can't wait to hear all about it!!!

 

[scrapperjill]

mommie2angels...I love that pic you have...it's great. Everyone looks like there having sooo much fun. I have a bit of sad news....Sydney's wish trip has been cancled!!! Yep, cancled...due to the threat of potiential danger and damage from Francis. We just got word today of the bad news. I guess GKTW has cancled ALL wish trips from now until Sunday...and since our trip was suppose to start Sunday...we fell in the cancled area. GKTW also said that depending on what happens with Francis they may be canceling other wish trips after Sunday...it all depends on damage and where she hits land.

 

[mommie2angels]

Thanks scrapperjill! So they have not given you word on when it could possibly be rescheduled?

 

[rjmom]

Sorry to learn of your trip delay, Scrapperjill. I also heard families were being asked to leave Florida early so that they wouldn't be stuck there during the storm. I'm sure your wish organization will be working diligently to reschedule soon.

And while staying at GKTW was great experience, some families are put up at the Poly or other Disney resorts as overflow. Those families still had full access to GKTW, just didn't stay on the grounds. The bright side of being on WDW grounds is the convenience of easy-to-get-to breaks. Though we had planned to take mid-day breaks, it was hard to break away from the parks once we got there, since we often didn't arrive until after 10:30am - and we were there in the midst of summer heat and lots of crowds.

Whatever the final scenario, I'm sure you will have an unbelieveable time once you arrive in Florida. If you haven't already done so, take the time to "map" out some of the attractions you'd really like to see - There's so many things to do that without a plan (even though it will probably change) you may inadvertantly miss it.

Keep us posted!