Give A Day, Get a Day reaches 600,000 in 6 weeks

Disney Dreams

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Hey Everyone,

Thought many of you would find this of interest. As has been discussed, 1 million people will receive a free ticket / voucher for volunteering through Disney's Give a Day, Get a Day promotion. How long does that take?

According to this article, not long at all.

"...more than 600,000 people in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada have already volunteered or signed up for volunteer projects in their communities, announced Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts."

In 6 weeks! That's amazing. I love how Disney has encouraged people to give their time to helping others!

But it also means, the 1 million vouchers are going fast!

- Dreams
 
Thats good!!! that means this stupid promotion should be over by mid February, early March! :thumbsup2
 
Thats good!!! that means this stupid promotion should be over by mid February, early March! :thumbsup2

Why is it a "stupid promotion"? 1 million people are volunteering, helping others, making a difference in the world, and getting to enjoy a day at Disneyland.

That's stupid? I guess we have different ideas of good stuff.

- Dreams
 

First of all, when you volunteer and expect something in return it's not really volunteering. Now if the program was called "Give a day - Give a day" where you volunteer then Disney donates a ticket to some charity on your behalf then it could be called "volunteering". I doubt it would be as popular though.

Second, there are already millions of people already out there volunteering at other charities, non profits, shelters, churches, etc.. etc.. Now these people are already volunteering out of the goodness of their hearts and not in exchange for a "free ticket to Disney". Are these people eligible for a ticket to Disneyland or WDW? No... Only people who "volunteer" at select organizations are eligible for those tickets... Kinda a slap in the face if you ask me! I believe if Disney really wanted to reward people they should have contacted these organizations, or allowed these organizations to contact them, and let them know about their people that have already put in weeks, months, and even years of service. These are the real volunteers that deserve the free tickets!

But that's just my opinion! ;)
 
It seems to me that organizations can certainly set themselves up for the GAD program and then their regular volunteers can join in and get a voucher. Disney is trying to make more of an awareness of the power of volunteering..I am guessing that most people who signed up already do voluneteering in other areas. I also imagine that seeing all these new volunteering activities will encourage people to give a little more even after the campaign is over. For example..I make sweaters for the Knit for Kids program and get nothing for it (except satisfaction, which is worth more than a voucher) Then through GAD I discovered Project Linus and made a blanket for them for the GAD program. I enjoyed it so much I'll certainly be making more, so Disney introduced me to a new thing I enjoy doing for others. Volunteers can choose to give their voucher to several different organizations for a child to go to the parks. It's all good :)
 
First of all, when you volunteer and expect something in return it's not really volunteering. Now if the program was called "Give a day - Give a day" where you volunteer then Disney donates a ticket to some charity on your behalf then it could be called "volunteering". I doubt it would be as popular though.

Second, there are already millions of people already out there volunteering at other charities, non profits, shelters, churches, etc.. etc.. Now these people are already volunteering out of the goodness of their hearts and not in exchange for a "free ticket to Disney". Are these people eligible for a ticket to Disneyland or WDW? No... Only people who "volunteer" at select organizations are eligible for those tickets... Kinda a slap in the face if you ask me! I believe if Disney really wanted to reward people they should have contacted these organizations, or allowed these organizations to contact them, and let them know about their people that have already put in weeks, months, and even years of service. These are the real volunteers that deserve the free tickets!

But that's just my opinion! ;)

I feel the same way. I volunteer/foster parent for an animal rescue group, so is Disney trying to say that my services are only ticket worthy if I have to go help 'selected organizations?' Yeah, I wouldn't call the promotion really volunteering, volunteering by definition is: a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.
So, it's like working really, you work, you get payed. NOT volunteering.
 
I think what you are missing is that there has to be some accountablity to volunteering, if not people, will just hand out tickets to whomever...we all know this is true, so please don't say that this is not the case! I have heard it is pretty easy to sign up and organization to gain volunteers.

Disney is saying that are inspiring people to volunteer and then celebrating them with something...AND they have a special parade to celebrate the volunteering...

Call it what you may and be negative about it, that is you...this is so totally AWESOME!!!! ANd people helping anyone else for whatever the reason is AMAZING!
 
I feel the same way. I volunteer/foster parent for an animal rescue group, so is Disney trying to say that my services are only ticket worthy if I have to go help 'selected organizations?'

You should talk to your organization about signing up through the Points of Light foundation so they too can be a "selected organization." My understanding is that it doesn't cost the non-profit anything, but they must be responsible for verifying the service done by the volunteers, so there is some administrative time involved. If nothing else, it is a good opportunity for non-profits to let others in community know about the good work they are doing. -- Suzanne
 
Never thought of it that way before, Crazy, but I agree. That really isn't "volunteering" in a true sense.:confused3
 
I mean, I'm not saying that it's a horrible thing, I think it's great that they can get 1m to help out. It just bothers me when they call it volunteering, I guess it's just a pet peeve of mine. Thanks Suzanne! I'll look into that!
 
First of all, when you volunteer and expect something in return it's not really volunteering. Now if the program was called "Give a day - Give a day" where you volunteer then Disney donates a ticket to some charity on your behalf then it could be called "volunteering". I doubt it would be as popular though.

Second, there are already millions of people already out there volunteering at other charities, non profits, shelters, churches, etc.. etc.. Now these people are already volunteering out of the goodness of their hearts and not in exchange for a "free ticket to Disney". Are these people eligible for a ticket to Disneyland or WDW? No... Only people who "volunteer" at select organizations are eligible for those tickets... Kinda a slap in the face if you ask me! I believe if Disney really wanted to reward people they should have contacted these organizations, or allowed these organizations to contact them, and let them know about their people that have already put in weeks, months, and even years of service. These are the real volunteers that deserve the free tickets!

But that's just my opinion! ;)

I agree with CrazyDuck!!!It is a stupid promotion, it never really piqued my interest. And like he said, people are not doing it out of the kindness of their own hearts, they are expecting something in return so it's not volunteering. I can't wait until it's over also...
 
I agree that its not volunteering, but it might spread the word about certain organizations and their needs and get people to volunteer again, later for that organization.
 
I agree that it's not volunteering, but that doesn't make it a stupid promotion. People doing good for their community for whatever reason is never stupip or wrong unless it's criminal. A lot of people don't realize the kidsn fo things they could do to help out in their community and this promotion is shining a spotlight where it should be shown. Sure, there will be a lot of people who give their day to get a Disney day and never look back, but itns't it worth it for the people who choose to volunteer again that might not have had it not been this experience? I already volunteer regularly, but had it not been for this promotion I would not have known just how many opportunities there are out there that I plan to take part in even after I did my GAD work. Where's the downside in that?
 
This is helping many organizations no matter what the persons intentions are. So if it helps a person/animal in need than I think its a good thing.
 
First of all, when you volunteer and expect something in return it's not really volunteering. Now if the program was called "Give a day - Give a day" where you volunteer then Disney donates a ticket to some charity on your behalf then it could be called "volunteering". I doubt it would be as popular though.

Second, there are already millions of people already out there volunteering at other charities, non profits, shelters, churches, etc.. etc.. Now these people are already volunteering out of the goodness of their hearts and not in exchange for a "free ticket to Disney". Are these people eligible for a ticket to Disneyland or WDW? No... Only people who "volunteer" at select organizations are eligible for those tickets... Kinda a slap in the face if you ask me! I believe if Disney really wanted to reward people they should have contacted these organizations, or allowed these organizations to contact them, and let them know about their people that have already put in weeks, months, and even years of service. These are the real volunteers that deserve the free tickets!

But that's just my opinion! ;)

I agree. I tried to "Give a day" but everything was booked. I know some other places I could have "volunteered" but they weren't included in the promotion.
 
I can see both points in this discussion. I personally believe that while some may give one day solely for a free ticket, this program also serves as a reward to those who already volunteer on a regular basis. And as some have already said, it can spark interest for those who are looking for an community outlet or may not have realized that they had this organization so close to home. I think this promotion can have some very positive effects on our communities and, ultimately, our country.
 
Wow, didn't think such a promotion would invoke so many strong emotions! LOL!

The way I look at it, we were already going to Disneyland so DISNEY volunteered our time to the specific organization, gave us a free ticket in hopes of us gonig to their park during tough economic times and spending even more $.

Worked for us.

I will say trying to find a volunteer position in our area that fit in their program was a nightmare... we regularly give service all over our community so it wasn't like our tree planting was new to us, but I could see how it could introduce someone to an organization or cause.
 
We did our GAD through one of the 2 programs that I regularly volunteer for. My son was born at 29 weeks and was a NICU baby for months, with many health issues. We received blankets from Project Linus (who we did our GAD through) and also baby clothes for preemies from our local preemie project.

I have continued for the last 9 years to work with both projects. When the GAD promo was released I have to admit there was a part of me that felt like I was "cheating" in a way to accept anything for a cause I believe in so much.

However I feel that anything that gets more people active- even if for only a day- in communities is a good thing:)
 
We did our GAD through one of the 2 programs that I regularly volunteer for. My son was born at 29 weeks and was a NICU baby for months, with many health issues. We received blankets from Project Linus (who we did our GAD through) and also baby clothes for preemies from our local preemie project.

I have continued for the last 9 years to work with both projects. When the GAD promo was released I have to admit there was a part of me that felt like I was "cheating" in a way to accept anything for a cause I believe in so much.

However I feel that anything that gets more people active- even if for only a day- in communities is a good thing:)

I also did Project Linus (after a nightmare search) and the contact person says she has gotten the blankets, but no news on when or if I will get the voucher.:confused3 I really don't want to bug her, so if I never get the voucher then I guess I can say dh and I really 'volunteered', right?:rolleyes1
 





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