Give a day will COST US MONEY!!!!

[Mrs D]

I would not read that and think, "Ok this is going to cost $12.99 plus tax."

OP, I'd be very surprised by this as well. The costs associated should have been explained very clearly up front!

 

[janey99]

They did tell you that the bear would not be provided free, and that you needed to have it donated to you.

Topper is correct - it is clear that you must "acquire" the bear that you will be stuffing, through a donation of the value by you or someone you get to sponsor you.

Jane

 

[momejay]

On my info sheet I was told to collect, for foster care, at least 5 items per family member. I was given a list of suggested personal items. Does that mean that if I showed up with 5 toothbrushes per family member I would have qualified? I think if a cost was involved, or a required amount of items was needed, it should be specific.

I collected items from my Sunday school class in exchange for homemade chocolate chip cookies. My girls asked friends for "free sample" items. (make-up, shampoo, feminine products...) I think OP should ask for a dollar or 2 from a few friends to pay for the bears. I am glad I didn't have any surprise requirements!

When I was there I saw people turning in 5 coloring books & crayons per person. Some didn't fully understand it wasn't about the WDW ticket!

I agree things on my volunteer info sheet could have been clearer. I think the whole purpose was to get more people interested in volunteering. A million people volunteered so if even a few continue to volunteer or learned something from volunteering the project was a success.

 

[winterman]

First, it was wrong to post a description of a volunteer activity and OMIT the costs involved so I agree with the OP on that. But if she can't afford $52 to do the activity then she can't afford a WDW trip.

The project that I did involved putting together a basket of essentials for a newborn. The posted description specified that some items had to be NEW but others could be gently used. It was really up to me to decide how much to spend. I spent $46 but that got me 2 vouchers so I still will save over $100 on our tickets. (We will be upgrading them.)

$79 x 2 = 158
$158 - 46 = $112 saved

Seems like a good deal to me.

 

[arihillfarm]

But if she can't afford $52 to do the activity then she can't afford a WDW trip.

I agree with this as $52 wouldn't even cover food in one park for one day for a family of four, but it does sound like the OP was considering not going to WDW and just donating the tickets back.

-Astrid

 

[Hannathy]

How neat! We bagged oyster shells down on the coast for three hours. It was smelly, hot, and back-breaking...but we loved it, learned about the local environmental issues, and met the coolest people!

Now this and mucking stalls or painting fences sounds like the type of volunteering worthy of a Disney ticket!! I think stuffing a single bear whether it was 12.99 or not in the category of doing as little as possible for the ticket and really taking advantage of the spirit of the promotion, and then crabbing about it. WOW. Go ahead I'm sure someone will "flame" me but I don't care.

 

[lovetoscrap]

What a fun, fantastic way to volunteer, simply by having hands-on fun while hand stuffin a teddy bear that will be donated to a foster child! Everybody wins with P*&^%78788 Cause!

^%^$%$*(*)(*) Workshop will be providing cuddly stuffed teddy bears to foster children throughout Massachusetts. After you hand stuff your teddy bear, you will leave them at )(*)(*)(*)(*)(*() Workshop and they will then be delivered to the various DCF Offices/Visiting Rooms where supervised visits are held between foster children and their birth parents, and where children stay while awaiting foster placement. These donations of stuffed animals will help make a very scary experience very comforting.

This is not like Build-A-Bear Workshop we have NO STUFFING MACHINES - its all about hands on fun! You will be required to hand stuff ONE Teddy Bear. No sewing or glueing required, as these teddy bears have a one way zipper with velcro to seal them up. We will provide you with all the "bear necessities" to complete this fun, quick and easy project!
For this project, for example, each registered volunteer can have people in your group, family, neighborhood, community and friends DONATE one NEW "Poochie Pals & Plaster Art Teddy Bear" to you for this purpose.

On the day of the event, for the time-slot you sign up for, at least ONE NEW donated Poochie Pal must be made for EVERY registered member in your group.

You can sign up your group for one of the times and dates below. PLEASE ARRIVE ON LOCATION PROMPTLY, AT START TIME, FOR THE SLOT YOU SIGN UP FOR BECAUSE WE HAVE THE WORKSHOP BOOKED ONLY FOR A DEFINED PERIOD OF TIME.



This is the info I got --no where does it say anything about the $$$ involved. I know some of you will never see my point, but here are the facts. We thought we would go and stuff a bunch, not just the one.

with one exception I took out the name of the place and our names

I have to say that I agree with the OP. The part that she bolded in red would have led me to believe that there was no cost involved. As well as the additional places that I bolded that certainly make it clear that the BUSINESS is donating the bears, the volunteers are just doing the labor. Everything says that the BUSINESS is donating the bears-- no where does it say that the volunteer "will be donating a bear after hand stuffing and dressing" it. My daughter and I are volunteering at an event for a local group (not for GAD) and the description said that "food, soda and water will be provided for volunteers". I certainly don't expect to have to pay for food and drinks while we are there (but will if I have to). It was made clear that the organization is the one providing them.

For this project, for example, each registered volunteer can have people in your group, family, neighborhood, community and friends DONATE one NEW "Poochie Pals & Plaster Art Teddy Bear" to you for this purpose.

They did tell you that the bear would not be provided free, and that you needed to have it donated to you.

That statement actually reads very confusing. I would have thought that it meant that if you have others that want to donate a new bear to you, then you can bring it and get clothes and other items (free) and also have it included in the collection. It doesn't say you can have people donate money towards a new animal, it says they can donate the actual bear.


I am not familiar with how the Hands On Network works and if they have any oversite on the groups that post on their site, but I think I would contact someone there about the misleading information/the fact that it was changed. I would wonder if the store owner originally did intend to provide you with all the "bear necessities", maybe with the hope that as families came in they would also buy their children a bear at full price, but then realized that wasn't happening or the demand was more than was expected. I would hope that someone at the Hands On Network would look into the fact that a business was advertising a free opportunity and then changed the rules after people signed up. OP said the store owner admitted she changed the description to add a cost after the fact.

I know this doesn't help the OP, and of course this cost is less than buying the 4 tickets, but if money is that tight then I think I would take a serious look at if I really thought I could use these "free" tickets and if it really is pretty doubtful that a WDW trip will happen this year I would cancel.

And personally I think that this sounds like a business that I don't want to give any of my money too. This just reeks of a bait and switch and I would rather pay for own WDW ticket (and buy some bears from somewhere else to donate to the Fostering organization) than to support this business. They had plenty of opportunities in this very long email to make it clear that the volunteer would be "providing" or "donating" and they didn't.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

What a fun, fantastic way to volunteer, simply by having hands-on fun while hand stuffin a teddy bear that will be donated to a foster child! Everybody wins with P*&^%78788 Cause!

^%^$%$*(*)(*) Workshop will be providing cuddly stuffed teddy bears to foster children throughout Massachusetts. After you hand stuff your teddy bear, you will leave them at )(*)(*)(*)(*)(*() Workshop and they will then be delivered to the various DCF Offices/Visiting Rooms where supervised visits are held between foster children and their birth parents, and where children stay while awaiting foster placement. These donations of stuffed animals will help make a very scary experience very comforting.

This is not like Build-A-Bear Workshop we have NO STUFFING MACHINES - its all about hands on fun! You will be required to hand stuff ONE Teddy Bear. No sewing or glueing required, as these teddy bears have a one way zipper with velcro to seal them up. We will provide you with all the "bear necessities" to complete this fun, quick and easy project!
For this project, for example, each registered volunteer can have people in your group, family, neighborhood, community and friends DONATE one NEW "Poochie Pals & Plaster Art Teddy Bear" to you for this purpose.

On the day of the event, for the time-slot you sign up for, at least ONE NEW donated Poochie Pal must be made for EVERY registered member in your group.

You can sign up your group for one of the times and dates below. PLEASE ARRIVE ON LOCATION PROMPTLY, AT START TIME, FOR THE SLOT YOU SIGN UP FOR BECAUSE WE HAVE THE WORKSHOP BOOKED ONLY FOR A DEFINED PERIOD OF TIME.

ONLY REGISTERED VOLUNTEERS WILL BE VERIFIED FOR A FREE DISNEY TICKET. It takes between 24-72 hours for you to get your tickets sent to you via email from Disney. Its a very fast turnaround.

We will be taking photographs during the event to share on our website as well as with other organizations and media. We will not use any names in the photos.

What happens next?

We have reserved a space for you to volunteer for this opportunity. Please be on time and wear clothing appropriate for the volunteer activity.

After you have completed your volunteer assignment, *(**&&^%%^$%$#%$$^ WORKSHOP will notify Disney Parks, who will contact you with instructions for printing your voucher for your free Disney day at Disneyland® Resort or Walt Disney World® Resort.

If you are not able to fulfill your commitment to volunteer, please let us know immediately. Click on the following link or paste it into your Web browser to be taken to the Volunteer Opportunity Portal to remove yourself from the opportunity.

http:///O6Q==&t=update&l=en

If for any reason you are unable to use this link, return to DisneyParks.com and click on the link to Manage Your Account.

On behalf of HandsOn Network, its affiliates and partner organizations, thank you for volunteering and being part of the “Give a Day. Get a Disney Day.” program.

HandsOn Network
“Give A Day. Get A Disney Day.” Volunteer Support Team

This is the info I got --no where does it say anything about the $$$ involved. I know some of you will never see my point, but here are the facts. We thought we would go and stuff a bunch, not just the one.

with one exception I took out the name of the place and our names

You know what ticks me off about this???? I work for DCF and trust me...we haven't gotten a SINGLE Teddy Bear donated! Where are all the bears going????????

 

[FergieTCat]

Gingerly stepping back in.

I'm going to agree with the OP. The charity should have been upfront about the cost per person of the project. Maybe they weren't allowed to outright ask for monetary donations via the GAD program -- I don't know. I will admit that arriving at a volunteer event and being told "That will be $52 for your entire family" would have annoyed me too. I have volunteered at many events for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and have never been charged for the privilege.

That being said, I picked a Project Linus charity. I decided to crochet a 42" by 42" blanket. It took me about 40 hours to complete over 7 days, which is way more time than it would have taken to make a fleece blanket. However, I enjoy crocheting and regularly crochet blankets for animal shelters at my expense, so it wasn't a hardship. But, in retrospect, I don't think I would ever try to crochet a blanket that fast again. And I paid $15 for 6 skeins of yarn plus $10 for shipping.

The GAD program to me said "Go out and do good. And when you come back, we'll give you a day at Disney." It was your choice as to how you chose to do it. No one should be criticized for making the effort and no one should be accused of "taking advantage" of a program that was offered for the express purpose of getting people to volunteer. At least it took more effort than just showing up at WDW on your birthday.

 

[Hanover]

My friend and her 3 kids stuffed bears earlier this month at Boyd's Bears in Gettysburg. She was told by the coordinator in an email after she signed up about the need to have a minimum of 2 bears "donated" (1 per 2 people) and that they were $30 each. They suggested that she have her children get sponsors for the bears. They were able to decide where to donate them--Children's Hopsital in DC, Jayme's Fund at Johns Hopkins or an orphanage in Africa. My son had been an oncology patient at Hopkins and we knew first hand just how much they do for patients. We were more than happy to help sponsor the bears, as were my parents.

My friend did not know when she signed up that there would be a cost associated with it, she thought they would be replacing workers that would not need to be paid to do the stuffing. Once she found out, she was totally okay with getting the sponsors and had a great experience with her children.

I think it's great that Disney has had people that may not have volunteered without the GAD offer get involved in communities and help others out.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Well since you asked, I would say you and your sons volunteered, but your husband did not.

So he doesn't deserve a ticket because he made it possible for us to buy the materials needed? I suppose we could play a game of semantics here...he volunteered his money, we donated our time.


I do have a problem with the Build a Bear company in the OP's post, though. It does seem like they made money off of this charitable contribution. It would have been nice for them the donate the materials, or at least offer them at cost.

 

[Suz D]

They did tell you that the bear would not be provided free, and that you needed to have it donated to you.

This is not like Build-A-Bear Workshop we have NO STUFFING MACHINES - its all about hands on fun! You will be required to hand stuff ONE Teddy Bear. No sewing or glueing required, as these teddy bears have a one way zipper with velcro to seal them up. We will provide you with all the "bear necessities" to complete this fun, quick and easy project!
For this project, for example, each registered volunteer can have people in your group, family, neighborhood, community and friends DONATE one NEW "Poochie Pals & Plaster Art Teddy Bear" to you for this purpose.

On the day of the event, for the time-slot you sign up for, at least ONE NEW donated Poochie Pal must be made for EVERY registered member in your group.

I think this is very misleading. The very first part that I highlighted in red specifically says that they will provide the necessities to complete the project. Then the next part says that you CAN (not must) have someone donate one to you for this purpose. Then the next part says that one new donated pal must be made for every person.

It sounds to me like it was just not well planned by the organizers. OP, I feel for you and would be irritated as well. If it would have been more specific then it's your own fault for not understanding the requirements, but it was NOT easy to understand and very contradictory.

 

[Suz D]

Gingerly stepping back in.

I'm going to agree with the OP. The charity should have been upfront about the cost per person of the project. Maybe they weren't allowed to outright ask for monetary donations via the GAD program -- I don't know. I will admit that arriving at a volunteer event and being told "That will be $52 for your entire family" would have annoyed me too. I have volunteered at many events for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and have never been charged for the privilege.

That being said, I picked a Project Linus charity. I decided to crochet a 42" by 42" blanket. It took me about 40 hours to complete over 7 days, which is way more time than it would have taken to make a fleece blanket. However, I enjoy crocheting and regularly crochet blankets for animal shelters at my expense, so it wasn't a hardship. But, in retrospect, I don't think I would ever try to crochet a blanket that fast again. And I paid $15 for 6 skeins of yarn plus $10 for shipping.

The GAD program to me said "Go out and do good. And when you come back, we'll give you a day at Disney." It was your choice as to how you chose to do it. No one should be criticized for making the effort and no one should be accused of "taking advantage" of a program that was offered for the express purpose of getting people to volunteer. At least it took more effort than just showing up at WDW on your birthday.

This whole post is very well said.

 

[lucigo]

I paid $90 for fleece and $20+ for shipping and it took us much longer than 1/2 an hour to complete our blankets. You can always look for a different opportunity. One listed for us was giving blood.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

There is a whole thread on the Dis dedicated to this organization and quite a few people who are doing it. It is a "one hour" commitment.

 

[MKCP5]

There is a whole thread on the Dis dedicated to this organization and quite a few people who are doing it. It is a "one hour" commitment.

Where is that thread please : )

 

[ecatzippy]

They did not make it clear in the advertisement that they expected people to pay $12.99 for a bear. OP is correct. Also, $52 can buy a lot of groceries if money is tight.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I am a little surprised by the responses here. I did the Project Linus opportunity, but I knew up front that I would need to get or have the materials to make the blankets. There was no surprise. I would be upset, too, if I had signed up thinking I would be doing a service - volunteering my TIME - and then found out I'd be paying. If that were in the description, the OP might have chosen a different activity that was strictly time-involved such as serving food for a soup kitchen, helping at a childrens home, or cleaning up a highway. All things that wouldn't involved $. I think the OP is right...to find this out after the fact is not acceptable. And now that the program has ended, I don't think she can switch projects. From her statement above, it looks like she wasn't even doing the service for the tickets since she doesn't know for sure if she's going and might end up donating them. So, I don't think you can lump her in with the people who were just doing the volunteering for free tickets.

If you don't like it then don't do it, simple as that. We did the blanket one as well and did have to spend about $45 on fleece. But it is still a total savings of over $200 for our family.

 

[ccgirl]

I think a lot of people are forgetting that the purpose of this program wasn't to get people "free" tickets. It was to stimulate volunteering. To that end, I believe Disney succeeded. To the OP, your friend could have left if she didn't have the money and you can choose not to do the service if you do not have the money. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I organized a food drive. I asked the organization how much food had to be collected in order to obtain a voucher. Her response was, how much does a day at Disney cost? Lets not lose site of the purpose of the Give a Day Get a Day.

 

[surfergirl602]

I spent about $100 on fleece fabric to make 5 blankets, plus another 15 to ship it. That was still cheaper than buying 5 tickets.