WOW!!
The volunteer support of Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio never ceases to amaze me. The same goes for volunteers of many other organizations all over the country.
It was just a few short weeks ago that we registered to participate in the
Give a Day, Get a Disney Day program. Walt Disney World Resorts had made the generous commitment to give each volunteer of participating organizations one-day’s admission to a Disney park in return for one day of volunteer service.
In just the short period we’ve been registered with Disney as a participating organization, we’ve had dozens come out and volunteer with us as part of that program. This came at a great time for us as we are in dire need of Friday volunteers and for volunteers to provide lunches on our construction site.
I have been truly in awe of the response. It was also great for us to see our already very dedicated and committed volunteer force have the opportunity to be rewarded for their hard work. And what a way to be rewarded – with a day in a Disney park!!
Through its partnership with the Hands-On network, Disney had hoped to inspire one million people to volunteer a day of service to a participating organization in their communities and celebrate their good works. And WOW….did they.
Original plans called for the program to last until Dec. 15 or until one million tickets had been awarded, whichever came first. It was recently announced that more than 600,000 volunteers had given of their time, and as of this week, organizers expect the program to wind down very soon as the supply of free tickets will be exhausted.
We hope that as many of our volunteers as possible who have already signed up to volunteer with us in coming days will reach their day of service prior to the one-million mark. In the coming days and weeks, you will still be able to search the Give a Day, Get a Disney Day site for available opportunities, but as we get closer to that one millionth ticket, those opportunities will begin to be removed.
You can read more on the program in our recent
blog entry.
We thank all of our dedicated volunteers who have been coming out and continue to help us in our mission of eliminating substandard housing by building simple, decent and affordable homes with families in need. YOU help make what we do happen and we look forward to working with you for many years to come.
And also THANK YOU to Disney for allowing our volunteers to be awarded in such a great way.
And please remember, although this program is coming to close, we still desperately NEED you to help us in our efforts. Please check out our
volunteer opportunities section for more information. You can also reach volunteer services by calling 210-223-5203 or by email at
sarah@habitatsa.org.
We hope to see you soon!
By Shelly, Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio staff