Give Kids The World with Pamela Landwirth - PREP313

Join us as we meet with Pamela Landwirth, the President and CEO of Give Kids The World. Pamela explains the background of Give Kids The World and shines a light on the importance of its mission to provide a ‘magical week of “YES” where Wish kids can experience the simple joys of childhood’.

Be forewarned – tissues may be required when listening to this episode; it will get you in the feels and have you searching their website on ways to get involved.

There is much more info included in the audio, so be sure to listen to the episode for a better explanation, and then head over to Give Kids The World’s website for even more information on how *you* can help make magic.

In this article

Introducing Pamela Landwirth and Give Kids the World

Pamela has been with Give Kids the World for 30 years. Prior to that, she worked at Disney!

Give Kids the World is an 89 acre non-profit resort 3 miles from Walt Disney World. It has grown exponentially over the past 30 years.

Give Kids the World is a destination for critically ill children from around the world who share the wish to travel to Walt Disney World. About 80% of the children come through Make a Wish Foundation but they work with 200 organizations all over the world.

Give Kids the World brings people together from every background as volunteers and families.

This was started by Henry Landwirth, a holocaust survivor and hotelier. Thirty-six years ago he was working at a hotel near Walt Disney World. He was often called to host a family for free at his hotel while they visited Walt Disney World as part of their wish.

One day he was called and a trip had been cancelled. Time had run out for the little girl receiving the wish. Henry didn’t want this to happen every again. He made a promise that no child’s wish would ever go unfulfilled.

How does it work?

When a child is diagnosed with a critical illness and given a wish, the wish-granting organization takes care of the airfare for the child and family. They stay at Give Kids the World and can visit all 4 Walt Disney World Theme Parks, both Universal Studios parks, SeaWorld, LegoLand, Gatorland, and more!

They stay at the Give Kids the World Village for a week. There are 166 handicap accessible 2 bedroom/2 bathroom suites at the village.

Meals and snacks are all provided at the village. There is an ice cream parlor open from 7:30 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. There are characters at the village and 4 wheelchair accessible attractions.

Christmas is celebrated every Thursday night with toys, Santa, and carriage rides. On Mondays they have Halloween with trick or treating and costumes!

Give Kids the World is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Volunteer Opportunities

There are three ways to engage with Give Kids the World: Give, Serve, and Share.

Give – Donate financially to Give Kids the World
Sharing – Sharing the message with others. Consider asking for donations for your birthday!
Serve – You can sign up to volunteer online. You can sign up as frequently or infrequently as you are available.

The volunteers say they get much more out of it than they give.

Give Kids the World also has events throughout the year to fundraise.

Quick Tip

Sarah suggests making a reservation at Trattorio al Forno for your Epcot day. Make your reservation before park opening, order the breakfast pizza, and when you are finished with your meal, walk over to the International Gateway entrance.

You will be in the perfect spot to get in line for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure!

Links for this episode

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