Give a Day Get a Day - Disappointed

[m&m's mom]

I was doing some preliminary checking for the opportunities available in my area with the network Disney is using. Out of 26 pages of opportunities less than five will work for my family and there were no opportunities for children under 12. (I live in the Dallas area - not a small town by any means)

I have a 15, 13, and 12 year old and I was really looking forward to volunteering together, but this may be harder than I thought.

Well then I am hosed. I live down the street from you and have a 13 and 10 year old.

 

[torinsmom]

I really think people need to wait until the end of January before they give up. As a PP stated, many organizations have not even listed their opportunities since the program has not yet started. The Hands On network is used for listing volunteer opportunities and was not created for this promotion. If there is somewhere in particular you want to volunteer, your best bet would be to either wait and see if they are added or call and inquire whether they are participating.

 

[lovegrumpy]

I looked mine up and I have over 2,000. So I'll wait intell the 1st of Jan. We wanna do something as a family.

 

[mousetravel]

I also noticed one of the "conditions" of the offer, is blackout dates:

The theme park tickets distributed under this Program will not be valid for use on the following dates:
For Walt Disney World® Resort: March 29 - April 8 and July 4, 2010
For Disneyland® Resort: February 13-14, March 21, June 21-22, July 4, November 21, and December 11-12, 2010

 

[agnes!]

Hmm....not a lot for folks under 18 in my area (and my area starts at about 50 miles away). However, one thing they list is GS Troop Leader. It isn't our Council though. I wonder if it would work for any registered troop leader or if there is a reason only certain councils are listed.

I've been a Girl Scout Leader and that isn't exactly a *day*...

agnes!

 

[disneymarie]

I live in no where PA.. there are 367 things listed all ages.. a lot for 55 and up?

Hi Helene, Hugs to the Cherub,
How far from Pottsville are you. There are hundreds there. Minersville has several for Cancer society too.

Di

 

[VillageMama]

I'm so excited! I think we've found a great volunteer opportunity!

It's hosting a fleece blanket making party in our home. The blankets go to children who suddenly find themselves in a foster care situation. From what I can gather, I'd invite a bunch of friends to bring some fleece to my house and we would gather together to make some blankets.

Children as young as six can participate. I'll serve refreshments and then once the blankets are made, I'll deliver them to the organization, which is about an hour away.

Sounds great to me!

 

[happygirl]

The closet thing for me was 196 miles away which I don't understand I live closer to big cities then that

 

[Simba's Mom]

The closet thing for me was 196 miles away which I don't understand I live closer to big cities then that

Sounds like our area. There are 2 cities a lot closer, yet the closest place with a volunteer opportunity is over 100 miles away.

 

[MrsPete]

I typed in my zip code, and it came up with 261 opportunities. However, that's a little deceptive.

Not a single one of those was in MY TOWN. I know that we have great need here in our town.

The majority are in the major city down the road; they list ALL the opportunities in that city as 7.9 miles from me. While it's true that I could go the borderline edge of my zipcode and could reach the borderline edge of that city in about 7.9 miles, the reality is that the organizations they mention are located all over the city -- some of them 40-50 miles away from me and through heavy traffic. I suspect this was made up by someone who's never been here and just paid attention to the city name.

Also, many of these 261 opportunities are at the same places -- they've listed themselves multiple times (i.e., work with Hope House on Terrific Tuesdays . . . work with Hope House on Whacky Wednesdays). LOADS of requests for help working with people earning their GEDS. I wonder how volunteers will be able to help with that? And finally, few opportunities for kids under 14. I'd been hoping to find things that my scouts could do (not necessarily for Disney tickets, but for ideas).

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We have a couple animal shelters in the area that are listed. Neither are close and I would have to drive through the city close to 25 miles to get to either of them. That doesn't bother me I didn't expect to find a place in my backyard.

But my kids are 11 and 6, I'm not sure they're old enough to volunteer not just for the shelters but most of the places I checked. Kind of defeats the purpose if thekids can't volunteer with DH and myself.

I emailed both shelters. We'll see what I get back.

 

[zalansky]

I also noticed one of the "conditions" of the offer, is blackout dates:

Thanks for posting those blackout dates. We have a season pass with blackout dates and the only reason I was going to do this was to get a ticket to use on one of those dates!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Our zip code produced about 24 pages of opportunites. Seven of them take kids age 14, so those would work OK for DS. What I thought was funny is that by the end of page 24 the places were 99 miles away! I don't think we will be driving 99 miles one way to do anything!

I didn't click to see how long the volunteer commitment is for any of them. We have annual passes so we don't really need the free pass. I was just curious about the process involved in getting one.

 

[torinsmom]

Try this. DO a search for your area in one category. At the bottom of the page, there will be something that says


Click here for information for HandsOn Network partner organizations you can contact that will have additional qualifying opportunities.

It will list organizations and their contact info, so you can see what other kinds of volunteer opportunities they have. I am still hoping they will add more organizations. I'd love to volunteer at the local ASPCA.

 

[Irish9697]

Searching on the Disney site, brought up 3 pages of local opportunities, but none for kids younger than 15.

So, I clicked on the button at the bottom to find other local area organizations and found a neighborhood clean-up morning for ages 6 and up on the 18th. Works perfectly because the kids are out of school! I emailed the organization for more info.

Yay!

 

[Carly_Roach]

Uh... wha? ~starts to panic~

The Give a Day program is the only way we'll be able to visit Disney. I've been planning on it for months.

For six of us, it's a savings of nearly $500. For that, I'd be willing to drive an hour away. Hopefully I will be able to find something for children ages 9, 10, 12 and 15.

Gonna go check it out...

I don't understand this. Were you planning on a Universal or Sea World vacation with a one day stop at WDW?

One ticket per person, regardless of the number or hours of volunteer service completed.

 

[VillageMama]

I don't understand this. Were you planning on a Universal or Sea World vacation with a one day stop at WDW?

No, we're renting a house in Kissimmee for the month of February with no plans to visit any theme parks. We're just escaping some of winter in Michigan.

But when this program was announced, it seemed like a great way for us to get to visit the Magic Kingdom for a day.

If it doesn't work out, we'll still be perfectly happy swimming in our pool and visiting beaches.

 

[shamrock30]

Most of the volunteer opportunities for my area are in Boston. That is at least a 50-60 minute drive away without traffic, plus you have to deal with (expensive) parking. I'm not in a rural town, and I would expect there to be more closer to home. Also, most of the opportunities are overseen by one agency that requires you to go to their general orientation and join before you can do the volunteer jobs. The orientation also is in the city. Even ushering at many of the theaters require you to go to that first. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

 

[CookieGVB]

We have something right here in Toms River. What a great idea.

 

[disney1990]

I found almost 400 opportunities within 30 miles of our house. Now to choose what to do.