Follow Up on the Donation to "Give Kids the World"

[lat]

Just in case if anyone is interested, I received a package today from

give kids the world

the charity that organizes sick kids trips to Disney, they work with Make a Wish Foundation, to provide food, lodging and all necessary care.

I donated 1 night at OKW to them and I received a package which includes a video, a nice looking denim shirt with a "give kids the world village" logo on it and a donation form that I can deduct the room rate for OKW for that night based on Disney's rack rate.

I am convinced that I will continue donating my leftover points to them because

1. it helps many families who are not as furtunate as some of us; and

2. the tax savings from value of the donation may be higher than the rental value I may get.

Their website is

www.gktw.com

Andrew Wilkins
Director of HR
Give the Kids the World
www.gktw.com
407-396-1114 x237
407-396-4073 (fax)


GREAT organization, check it out.

I watched the video they sent me last night and it is so touching to see what people provide for these kids and for many of them " will be their last time vacationing as a family".

Please donate your extra points if you cannot use them for whatever reason.

Happy Holidays!!!!!

 

[Megan's Mom]

As someone who has benefited from GKTW I thank you. It is people like you that made/make those trips possible for families. It is a great organization and if you get the chance to read Henri Landworth's book Gift of Life you will be even more amazed at the work they do.

So accept this pat on the back for doing a good deed.

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

Aloha, lat!

Was considering this for our 12 pts that expire in FEB since I've sent donations of $$$ to GKTW in the past...Went to website but couldn't locate 'HOW-TO'...


Can you direct me to more 'HOW-TO' info?

Mahalo!

And... HAPPY HOLIDAYS !

 

[1SickPupe]

I have 20 unused points for BWV that I would like to donate also. Any info would be appreciated.

 

[lat]

GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The way it was done for me at least was that:

Andrew is the one who arranges these things. Call him up and he will give you a bunch of dates that he would like to have. You check with MS to find out which date is available and book it. He is not particular on resorts, so just figure out which resort would fit your pt needs. Give him the confirmation # (reservation initially needs to be made in his name), then forward him the written confirmation.

He will be in touch with you later to give you the wish family members' names for you to change the ressie to their name. If there is enough time, forward him the written confirmation, otherwise, he can just confirm it.

They use these nights for the sick children's parents to get a night out while they care for the children.

After the night is used, he will send you a donation form for you to sign and send it back to them. In addition, I got a denim shirt and a very touching video tape detailing their program and facilities. It is very sad to watch these sick kids while feel good that I can do something for them, however little that is.

Go for it. It will give some magic to someone's life!!!!!

 

[Peterd]

I mentioned on the boards about 7 years ago, about if some on the board would pledge just one point every 2 or 3 years, we could make something like the make the wish foundation right here. With the debates on the okw slide and 1 cent increase in dues, It fell on deaf ears. If the DIS didn't want to do it, I would donate to a fund such as this.

 

[pirateparrot]

It seems to me that if we had enough donations, it would make sense for the organization to acquire a small contract and then members could simply transfer the points into their account. I still have not closed on my contract and I am sure in the first couple of years, points will be hard to come by but it would be nice to have an easy way to donate unused points. I wonder if GKTK has though about this as an on-going project. A small 50 point contract would incur limited expenses for maintenance fees and would provide them maximum flexibility.

 

[1SickPupe]

I'm not sure what the legal limitations would be, but I totally agree with PirateParrot. This could really take off. To make the point transfer process as simple as possible would draw more people to donate, and would give GKTW the power to reserve, rooms, dates, etc. at their convenience.

 

[lat]

I think this is a great idea if there is a fund set up to pay for the MF and other stuff. However, many people have expiring pts that cannot be transfered because they were banked or borrowed.

I would love to see if DVC can set up an account for the donation, so that they would make special rules that no matter what type of points they are (banked, borrowed, or current year), they can all be transfered into this special account for these wish families, and then make GKTW have the discretion to make or change reservations.

Initially, Andrew wanted to be able to change the name himself to keep the family's name private. However, MS would not let him change the name himself uless I do it.

But this will cause more work for DVC, not sure if it is really feasible.

 

[d-r]

This is a really good idea, and I like helping the charity; I hate to sound as matter of fact as this probably will, but hey - there could be some really nice tax benefits to this if it is able to go through before the end of the year. I will call tomorrow - think about 8 points at okw being around a $250 donation; that is better than renting those points.

 

[Zimbubba]

What a great idea. We never knew they needed this type of donation. We give cash annually to this great place. We will now add this to our list and encourage others to do the same. The children and their families need it.

 

[mom2alix]

This is a wonderful thing to do with those extra points we can't use some years and what a great organization!

 

[Mic]

I met a lovely older couple on the Disney Cruise 2 years ago that were part-time castmembers at WDW, and worked for the Make-a-Wish foundation at the village near the parks. I mentioned to them that I would like to donate points(or nights) to them, but I wasn't sure how. They explained to me that the kids staying at the village needed special medical care beyond the scope of what would be found at a normal Disney resort, so the kids had to stay at the village to have access to nurses and necessary equipment. I didn't even think about the poor parents needing a night out! Anyway, I think this is a great idea, and it seems Andrew is doing a great job of handling the donations. As Disney already supports the foundation in other ways, I don't know if DVC would be willing to handle a points account, and if they did, who would pay to have it managed? In my opinion, as long as Andrew(or someone from the foundation) is willing to work with individual DVC members on getting the nights booked, this may be the best way to do it. Perhaps the moderators could set up a thread on the rent-trade board for members who have a few points(but not enough to book an entire night) to donate to 1 member's account, and that member could book the rooms as needed by GKTW. This would cost nothing to members or GKTW, only the time of a special DIS'er, and we could all donate to a worthy cause.

 

[sparkysfriends]

I would love for Disney/DVC to allow normally untransferable points to be transferred for this worthy cause. I currently have 2 banked points that will expire in Sept. '04. I cannot use them and because they are banked points they are not transferable. I would love to be able to donate them, but because they are not enough to book any type of room for even 1 night, I cannot even make a reservation for Andrew. I had asked Member Services if there was any way that I could donate these points and was told no. It seems a shame. This happened to me a couple years ago, as well. That time I had 4 extra banked points. Isn't there any way that we can get the powers that be to allow us to bend the rules for such a worthy cause? Any thoughts on this?

 

[NancyDVC]

I have points that I would like to donate also. If we had a way to transfer the points to an account for GKTW then no matter how many or how few points we had they would be used for a great organization.
(As for the small 50 point contract, remember the minimum contract is 150 points!)
I will try to contact Andrew to make use of my points.

 

[lat]

I had odd points and I ended up borrowing from my next use year to make up the points that were needed. When you watch the video, you will realize how lucky we are in certain ways, something that we may not always remember.

 

[jaysue]

Does anyone know if the GKTW is a registered charity in Canada or if donations to them would qualify as a charitable deduction "overseas"?

thanks
jaysue

 

[lat]

I think the best way to find out is to call them. I know that for US purposes, it is a 501(c) (3) organization which is a charity where the donation is considered tax deductible. Not sure about Canada.

 

[kathleena]

This sounds like a great idea, I'm going to have some next use year. I will plan to donate at least one night a year.

RE the 50 point contract and the 150 minumum - can't a resale be bought and therefore get around the 150? Just not sure....

But I think the better idea is a special DVC approved account in the GKTW name where members can transfer points. But I'm not sure it's just DVC, isn't it the development company that would have to approve something like that?

I wonder if DVC is willing to work with this? Has anyone ever tried asking? Should we get a letter composed as a group and ask?

 

[goldilocks_63]

I think this is a great idea....

But I bet these odds and ends points give Disney a lot of money... and I don't know if they are actually prepared for all these odd lots to be used.

As someone suggested, maybe as a group we could approach them, and empasize the good PR and public relations,etc they could get from this.....

Not to mention the goodwill of all us DVCers....

Maybe would get farther by contacting a local Orlando newpaper, and having them persue the story as a special interest????

ANyone in Advertising, Marketing, etc... with ideas?

Goldi.
(Sorry, a computer IT person, not very helpful here).