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About Give Kids The World Village
Give Kids The World Village is an 84-acre, nonprofit resort in Central Florida that provides weeklong, cost-free vacations to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. The Village and its community partners provide children and their families accommodations in fully-furnished villas, transportation, tickets to theme parks, meals, daily entertainment and much more.
Each year 27,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Half of all children eligible for a wish through a partnering wish-granting organization choose to visit Central Florida and its collection of theme parks and other attractions.
The goal, quite simply, is to provide everything these deserving families need to make their trip the vacation of a lifetime. Since 1986, more than 167,000 children and families have had their dreams fulfilled in a whimsical Village unlike any other place on earth.
Since 2012, the Workers’ Compensation Institute has supported Give Kids The World by bringing hundreds of volunteers to work in Village venues and assist with Village service projects. WCI also hosts an annual Give Kids The World Gala which includes a sit-down dinner, silent auction, and entertainment.
WCI has raised almost $300,000 for GKTW over the past 5 years!The 2020 WCIvirtual Fundraiser raised $93,391.10 to support Give Kids The World Village!
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WCI’s Give Kids The World Service Day and Virtual Volunteer Projects
Volunteering in 2021:
This year we are thrilled to inform you that the village has reopened! Although not at 100%, kids and families have started to return to the village which is at about 20 percent capacity. Large volunteer groups are still not allowed on sight, so the planning surrounding our volunteer day is still somewhat fluid. This allows the village to keep a high level of safety for their guests, workers and volunteers but also allows for their Night of a Million Lights event!
Since 2016, as a kick-off for the conference, WCI has coordinated a volunteer service day – where hundreds of volunteers have converged on GKTW to assist with various service projects including maintenance, gardening, painting, cleaning and more. This year’s conference, scheduled to be held at the Orlando World Center Marriott, will feature a virtual volunteer opportunity along with a limited in-person volunteer project at the conference site on Saturday, December 11, 2021.
WCI encourages the workers’ compensation industry to register and sign up early via the below form. Projects will be cutting and assembling paper projects for the kids. Once specific projects are finalized, all registered volunteers will be notified.
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2021 GKTW Night of a Million Lights Gala
To register for the 2021 Gala, please fill out the form at the bottom of this section. You will then be redirected to a new page where you can purchase one or multiple Gala tickets. Individual tickets are $75 and child tickets (12 and under) are $25.
GKTW Night of a Million Lights Gala attendees will enjoy an exclusive area at the village to gather, bring family members, mingle with industry peers, and enjoy strolling through the village for an exclusive Night of A Million Lights experience. The evening will include drinks and hors d’oeuvres, GKTW rides, exclusive photo opportunities, special GKTW encounters, our annual silent auction, and more!
Night of a Million Lights:
What is Night of a Million Lights? Give Kids The World Village closed to wish families in mid-March of 2020 due to the global pandemic, delaying more than 6,000 wishes. Night of a Million Lights was designed to raise funds to ensure that the wishes of critically ill children could return bigger and better than ever before once the time was right to reopen. It was such a huge success that the Village has decided to do it again in 2021 and WCI will be playing a big part in it.VIDEO VIDEO Details:
WCI has been offered a unique experience to combine our conference in with GKTW’s Night of a Million Lights event this year. Volunteer opportunities along with our annual Gala and silent auction will be held, wait for it… at the Village this year!
When: Saturday, December 11th 2021
WCI will be holding a private event to tour the Night of a Million Lights event together beginning at 5:00pm. Following the Night of a Million Lights event, we will meet in GKTW’s very own Hoppening Place to commence WCI’s annual Gala and silent auction event!
Kids & Families are welcome.
Rides and several activities will be available for the whole family.
No busses this year.
Parking will be available at the village to all WCI attendee’s personal vehicles.
Sponsorship opportunities available.
This is the perfect event to have fun and network while serving the important purpose of raising funds for Give Kids the World. Dinner, silent auction, and entertainment will be provided along with admission to GKTW’s Night of a Million Lights. The Silent Auction will include vacations, sports memorabilia, jewelry, purses, and many other exciting items.
Special hotel rates:
Special Hotel rates of $99 at the Marriott World Center for Friday and Saturday nights will be given to those who register for the conference and participate in the Give Kids the World event. Pre-registration is required and can be accomplished by clicking here.
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2021 Virtual Silent Auction Donations and Info
Support WCI’s efforts to raise funds for Give Kids the World by donating a Silent Auction item! Your donated item(s) will be showcased along with your name/company and auctioned throughout the WCI conference. Your donated name will also appear on the Silent Auction Bidding App.
Your generosity for this great cause will not go unnoticed by GKTW, along with the conference attendees. Remember your donations are tax-deductible!
Auction item ideas – Here is a list of potential donation items however do not feel limited to them:
Art
Beach/pool items
Blue tooth headphone
Blue tooth speakers
Booze
Cigars
Fishing items
Go pro
Handbags
Home appliances/gadgets
Home items
Ipad
Jewelry
Laptop
Memorabilia
Paddleboard
Reading tablet
Soundbar
TV
Webcam
Wine
Yeti/cooler
How to Donate – Please email Robin Fielding at rfield627@aol.com and text a picture or link of your item you are donating along with your name, company name, email and contact info. If your donation is a duplicate, Robin will contact you and discuss suggestions of an alternate item. Once a winner is chosen, we will notify you and ask that you ship the item directly to the winner. You can choose to virtually donate your item, wait for the winner’s information then purchase and take advantage of most companies free shipping options and ship directly to the winner!!!
Treasure Chest – Donate to the popular Treasure Chest which will be raffled contact Heather McCleod directly at attymcleod@gmail.com .
Deadline – The deadline to donate items is December 3, 2021. As donations are received, they will be highlighted and shared with registered attendees, so the sooner your item is information is received, the sooner you and/or your company will be recognized for your generosity.
Last Year’s Efforts:
Last year, even though the midst’s of a Pandemic, the WCI community continued our ongoing support of the village, virtually. With virtual at home volunteer projects, over 350 individuals and families put together and completed over 5,500 masks and autograph books for the kids and families. In addition, we appreciate everyone who generously supported Give Kids The World during the WCI virtual silent auction. The total amount raised from the silent auction, separate contributions, and sponsorships amounted to over $93,000!