Give Kids The World Village — Night of A Million Lights

Give Kids The World Village is an 89-acre, nonprofit “storybook” resort in Central Florida. Here, children with critical illnesses and their families are treated to weeklong, cost-free vacations.

But what could the Wish Families’ favorite Florida destination do when a global pandemic shut its doors temporarily to a) safely celebrate the holidays despite Covid-19; b) raise awareness of their life-affirming mission to grant wishes to families facing medical uncertainty; and c) raise much-needed funds to ensure the doors re-open once it’s safe to do so?!

They imagined and made possible Night of a Million Lights! Click —>here to see the magical holiday display.

Thousands upon thousands of volunteer hours, over 3 million lights donated by Walt Disney World, and contributions provided by community sponsors made Night of a Million Lights become a reality.

For the first time ever, guests can experience the childlike wonder of a magical, whimsical Village during a walk-through, fully immersive holiday light spectacular. Stroll the Avenue of Angels, aglow with more than three million lights; savor delicious treats; and enjoy the accessible rides and storybook attractions that have brought happiness and hope to critically ill children and their families from around the world for 34 years.

Our family has volunteered at GKTW for a number of years. It’s truly been a joy working alongside some of our family members, blogging buddies and friends. We consider ourselves blessed that we “can” be at Give Kids The World Village with our child, but we don’t “have” to be there. We don’t take for granted the fact that we have a healthy child.

On one of our Night of a Million Lights volunteer days we met Mike Esmonde, Universal Studios AVLP team member, who shared the reasons why he is proud to volunteer (and has been for close to two decades!).

Click —>here to see the Dino Putt Holiday transformation & to hear Mike’s encouraging words.

Give Kids The World Village has created an experience unlike any I’ve seen. It’s a whole lot of holiday happiness that’s an unexpected positive wrap up of 2020.

Tickets are available through this link. Your purchase brings hopes to wishes.

Thank you, Sponsors. Your generosity brought the magic to “light.”

Advent Health 
American Airlines 
Barcana 
Bob’s Space Racers 
Boston Market 
Boston Whaler 
Buca di Beppo
Crayola Experience
Don CeSar 
Dreams Unlimited Travel
Enterprise 
Fun Spot 
Hasbro 
HNTB 
Holiday Bright Lights 
Holiday Inn Club Vacations 
IAAPA
IHGOA
ITEC 
Kennedy Space Center  
LandCare 
LEGOLAND
Lost Bros
LoTemp 
Margaritaville 
Mattress Firm 
Mears 
Mix 105.1 
Orlando City Soccer 
Pepsi 
Perkins 
PGA Tour 
Planet Hollywood 
Ripley’s 
S4 
SeaWorld 
Servalli Foundation 
Sunbelt Rentals 
Synergy Equipment 
Unilever 
Wheaton 
Winterland, Inc.
WonderWorks
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Get Down To MacDown!

Give Kids The World Village is hosting O-Town MacDown, Saturday September 12 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Osceola Heritage Park. At this fun family event you’ll find 1) Unlimited Mac-n-Cheese and 2) Loads of vendors, kids activities, character meet and greets, cooking demos an MORE. (That could have been 2 thru…)!

Click on this link to see an awesome video produced by iZon Orlando about the GKTW Blogger Bash and O-Town MacDown!

This delicious “food fight” cooking competition featuring professional chefs and restaurants! It’s a great event for the whole family.

One of the great vendors again this year is Medieval Times. Will we have a fire (smoke!)-breathing dragon? I can’t wait to find out!

I’m looking forward to a special food demo this year by Chef Manny Washington, one of the latest winners on Cutthroat Kitchen!

Mayor Clayton and Miss Merry, and Rugby and Reme with a great little volunteer, Daniel.

There is a limited amount of tickets for this event, so make sure you purchase your tickets early before this delicious event sells out!

$10 for Adults (or $15 at the door)
$5 for Kids (or $10 at the door)
Get Your Advanced Tickets Now at otownmacdown.org

Attendance and participation benefit Give Kids The World Village.

Thanks to the amazing sponsors including some of my favorites:
Applebee’s
Boston Market
Cabot Creamery / Florida Dairy Farmers
Catering For Good
Chef Lauren Cooke
Chef Emmanuel Estrella and Chef Juan Navarro
Chef Jennifer Delinger
Walt Disney World Port Orleans
Four Seasons Resort Orlando
Fox and Hounds
Graffiti Junktion
Hard Rock Café Orlando
Hurricane Bar & Grill
Jillycakes
Le Cordon Bleu
Maggiano’s Little Italy
Chef Joel Padilla
Pammie’s Sammies
Paramount Fine Foods
Ponderosa
Rainforest Café
Red Lobster
Chef Andrew Roch
Shubee’s Coastal Bar & Grille
Smokey Bones
The Outpost
Tin Roof
Tom and Chee
Chef Richard West
World Food Championships

Give Kids The World Village is a 74-acre, nonprofit “storybook” resort, located near Central Florida’s most beloved attractions, where children with life-threatening illnesses and their families are treated to weeklong, cost-free fantasy vacations. For more information, please visit givekidstheworld.org

Gingerbread Run This Saturday

Hear ye, hear ye! The Sixth Annual Gingerbread Run 5K Presented by Aaron’s at Give Kids The World Village is this Saturday, November 8! Assisted by the King, Queen and Knights of the Roundtable, the 5K race will start and finish at the castle at Medieval Times.

The race invites the public inside the whimsical 70-acre “storybook” resort to meet the families they help support. The professionally timed race will lead participants on a 3.1 mile path through the Village, past the Castle of Miracles and Ol’ Elmer the snoring tree, through magical bubbles and past the CANDY LAND game where sweet treats will be doled out by Queen Frostine and Princess Lolly.

If you can’t make it to the Gingerbread Run in person, you can still run “virtually” from anywhere in the world.

Rugby and Reme give Murphy send hugs and good wishes to everyone who will be at the Gingerbread Run!

Participation cost is:

Adults: $30 (All participants will receive an event T-shirt, a 2014 Collectible Gingerbread Run medal, goody bag and refreshments)
Juniors 3-12: $15 with paid adult
Virtual Runners: $45 (All virtual runners will receive an event T-shirt and a 2014 Collectible Gingerbread Run medal)

As a special bonus, participants have the option of buying a $10 subscription through the Orlando Sentinel newspaper. For running and also giving through this link, participants get 52 weeks of Thursday through Sunday papers home delivery, and 100% of the proceeds go directly to Give Kids the World Village!

Thanks to all the sponsors, especially travel and tourism friends at Medieval Times, Nickelodeon Suites and Resorts, Last Minute Travel Club, and Holiday Inn Club Vacations.

Ice Cream For Breakfast Contest #icecreamwakeup

What could be more fun than having ice cream for breakfast? I’m not sure there ARE more fun things than that, but I know waking up your kid(s) or loved one WITH ice cream would be tons of fun… for all involved.

Give Kids the World Village is hosting a contest for an Ice Cream Wakeup (hashtag #icecreamwakeup). To participate, get out your camera or phone and film someone waking up with ice cream… in bed, at the breakfast table, wherever! Keep your videos to about 30 seconds. Post your video on YouTube (or mail in CD*) and share it on social media to be entered for the random drawing April 18, 2014. Enter the link to your video(s) here.

Celebrity chef and Retro Rad Food Network Star Finalist, Emily Ellyn is the Official Spokesperson for Ice Cream For Breakfast 2014 and she’s giving out some great prizes, in addition to infusing her special brand of fun into the mix. Wouldn’t you enjoy winning a party-starter-pack featuring Emily Ellyn’s Signature Pink Zebra Safari apron from her apron line?! (I knew you would!)

Says Emily Ellyn, “I’ll be sharing the scoop with moms everywhere on how to bring neighborhoods, communities and families together over summer break. We’ll top it off with a sense of Retro Rad nostalgia and a touch of that Leave It To Beaver feel. And of course, the support of the Give Kids The World Mission will be the cherry on top!”

Have fun with the #icecreamwakeup and spread the word about Give Kids the World Village. Your support makes it possible to host children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. GKTW provides accommodations at its whimsical resort, donated attractions tickets, meals and more for a weeklong, cost-free fantasy vacation. With the help of many generous individuals, corporations and partnering wish-granting organizations, Give Kids The World has welcomed more than 127,000 families from all 50 states and 75 countries.

*Participants may also mail in a 3×5 card with name, email address, zip code and a CD of videos (up to three video submission per CD) to: Give Kids The World, 210 SouthBass Road, Kissimmee, FL 34746 ATTN: Ice Cream Wake Up Contest.

Full contest rules can be found here.