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

[mom2aidanNpiper]

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. 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?

It took 10 days after she got ours for Disney to e-mail our vouchers to us

 

[jham]

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. 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?

My vouchers did not get emailed but I checked in on the GAD website and they were there ready for me to print out. I regularly volunteer in my community but this was a great opportunity for my family to do a volunteer project together and a great learning experience for my 4 kids, one of whom is not old enough to receive a voucher but was able to work on the project and feel good about it. I am an AP holder so will not be using our vouchers for tickets. We will probably end up getting pins or fast-passes so if that is "payment" for our service then we work cheap!

 

[lb2000]

I like the promotion. Yes, you are "getting" something, but it may inspire people to volunteer who may not otherwise, and it is a great way to get the kids out there and involved. I would go to Disney w/o it, but maybe I wouldn't have found the time to get the whole family out doing a beach clean up, including my 4 year old, who gets no ticket. Due to our busy lifestyle, we end up usually sending a check to an organization, and this motivated me to actually do somthing with the whole family.

 

[iheartdisney]

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.

You know I felt the same way when the pomotion first came out, and I posted the same sentiment in the "offical" thread about the promotion. However, I can see that it is a good program. If service was the only message, Disney can very well afford to donate to all of the charitable organizations around the country. Instead, they are inspiring the people to get involved in their own communities. Like the saying goes, give a man a fish, he'll eat one meal but teach a man to fish he will eat for the rest of his life.
I know that not everyone in this great nation is involved in a church, scouts, or the many other programs that serve the community. This is a great way to see all of the opportunites to help out in the LOCAL community. For once, we are encouraged to think locally, not globally.
And as for the arguement about getting "paid" for our service...Like many on this board, I am making blankets, for a charity called "Operation Binky". with the pattern I have chosen, each blanket costs approx. $20 in raw material. (and that is buying fleece on sale!) So in essence, I am PAYING for the opportunity to serve. Add to that we are all have APs, so we really don't HAVE to do anything. But we are, and not just for the free pins. I'm pretty sure I can find a set on pinpics or ebay for less than the $80 (raw material), two solid weeks at the sewing machine...not to mention the 40 minute drive to drop them off!