What was your Give A Day Get A Disney Day Volunteer Service like?

[jodeja]

It did take about three times going back to the website and searching for opportunities that I could do with my 2 boys, but I finally found the perfect one for us.
It was so fun and easy that we almost felt like we didn't do enough to really earn the free ticket!
We volunteered for two hours at Get Books into the Hands of Children. It was put on by the Children's Book Bank. They collect books for chldren, mostly preschoolers, who are at or below the poverty level and they distribute them through Head Start programs. We cleaned up the donated books: washing them, taping torn pages, erasing or using white-out on markings, etc. We just tried to make them look as nice as possible before they were boxed up for distribution.
We also bought several books at Goodwill and selected several from our own home library to take for donation. The next day they emailed me a receipt for my donation which I can use for the tax deduction.
The event was very low-key and quite relaxing and fun. There was a mom and daughter who were not there for the Disney program but volunteer regularly. I would love to go back and do it again too!
We volunteered on Monday, February 15th, which was incredibly convenient since the kids were out of school and I was off work for President's Day. We received the email voucher for our free park tickets on that Friday.
The Children's Book Bank said they have already made their goal of distributing book to every Head Start in the area so now they were working on giving books to older kids too. They said that a lot of these kids do not own a single book of their own! They give each kid 16 books so they can have their own mini-library of age-appropriate books at home.
It was a wonderful experience.
Now, I just need to finish planning our Disneyland trip!

 

[MommaMonsters]

for the barn where my girls ride. It is a very small organization that provides riding lessons for children who need something special in their lives. The gal who runs it signed the barn up, and when she heard that we were going to Disneyland she offered us something to do, and kindly allowed us to bring it home and do it. So we cleaned 20 - 30 bridles for the horses, it was pretty easy really! Rub the leather with a bit of saddle soap, buff it off and viola we were done!

Helped us get some tickets, and helped a wonderful program!

 

[blue donkey]

Just volunteered on Friday where I work. How convenient is that? It was hard work de-weeding the school yard. My hamstrings are still a bit sore but I volunteered at a site where I could see the immediate impact of all our labors. So, it sure paid off. Plus, I earned a ticket to DL.

I also met this nice mom & son who were volunteering. She is really trying to encourage her 6 yr. old to volunteer for the sake of it so she wasn't sure if she was going to tell him about the "special reward."

It was a great way to meet quality people as well.

Now... I just have to decide when to go to DL.

Also, one of my coworkers told me that you may also get a ticket if you donate your volunteer ticket. Does anyone out there know if this is true?

Thanks

 

[heatherleigh]

I do not need a ticket, but I checked my area to see what was available. Thought it would be something cool for the kids to participate in. I was surprised to see so many options, so close to where we live (we live way out in a semi-rural area). Most of them involve animals- there are farms and horses out here.

I'm going to look into one of the ones that allows 6-yr olds and see if I can organize something w/ a sitter for the younger two. My kids wouldn't mind getting the mouse ears rather than the tix.

 

[ACDSNY]

Well DH & I are signed up for two different organizations. DH used to be a carpenter so he's signed up to work later this month on a house for parents to stay at while their children are in Shriner's hospital. I've taken my orientation training to start working with a theraputic horseback riding organization and will volunteering 3 evenings this month. We've both been involved with 4-H for many years so it's great to venture out to other organizations.

 

[radiatorsprings]

We tried signing up for an outdoor project that had 39 open spots and the website would not let us sign up. It kept saying "volunteer limit reached" even though it clearly hadn't. After several phone calls, the lead project guy for GAD called me and could not figure out why there was a glitch. We ended up signing up my whole family for a Binky Patrol project. I made two "adult" blankets and two "child" blankets for my whole family to turn in. It wasn't until after I turned them in that I noticed in the confirmation email that it was to be one 4'x5' blanket or two small kids blankets a person. The lady in charge was nice enough to give us all credit anyways. Our vouchers arrived via email just a few days later. It was easy work, but there was no connection with the organization. We were given the organizer's home address and were to drop the blankets off on her porch - she provided a rubbermaid box to place them in. I prefer face to face stuff and normally volunteer with Make A Wish, but since opportunities for vouchers were limited, we chose this.

I did the Binky opportunity also. I think it might've been the same chapter too because my bf and I left ours on someone's front porch also. It was kind of weird just to leave them there without even talking to someone and I was worried but we got our vouchers today so it worked out. I was trying to find an animal shelter or organization for the GAD but couldn't find any opportunities close to me so I chose this. It was fun though to make the blankets.

 

[olivejuice]

Our opportunity was awsome. My husband, son and I made blankets for Project Linus. It was lots of fun. We even made a couple extra and drove to drop them off. I already received my email with the tickets!

 

[Gisele]

Well everything sounds good. Any new updates or additional experiences?

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

A friend and I both signed up to make homemade fleece blankets for a charity organization. We plan to get together on a Friday night with a couple glasses of wine, a good movie and make blankets! It should be a fun way to earn our tickets!

This is what we are doing as well. I've never done it before, but they are very popular blankets (fleece, tie blankets). I made our first one last night, it was really simple and fun. It looked so cozy, DH wanted to use it when I was done.

 

[ACDSNY]

Last Thursday I did my first volunteer session with Project Ride (therapuetic horseback riding) and had a great time with two kids around 9 yrs old, boy were they chatter boxes and so cute. Already received my voucher today. I plan to continue volunteering for quite some time.

Now I just have to be patient until our November trip to DL.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

We had a wonderful experience with our volunteering. We volunteered this past weekend and it was at a local church putting together snack kits for an after school program. The church provided the items and we just had to assemble 3 kits per person and make cards for each kit. It took about an hour and that included the pancake/sausage/bacon breakfast that the church members served us. I actually feel guilty that our volunteer activity was so simple and we were being rewarded with breakfast and disney tickets. The kids had a great time and so did dh and I.

It's been over 10 years (pre kids) that dh and I would go on volunteer-date night. Dh and I volunteer at our kids schools now, but it was so much fun volunteering as a family. I think GAD just started a new tradition in our family. I'm going to actively search to volunteer monthly as a family.

 

[issapowers]

My husband and I actually had a much different experience then it seems like the rest of you had.

We volunteered at a church by our house. It was a very small ministry in an old victorian home. The manager called me within minutes of signing up. On the give a day website the church stated they needed help with shrink wrapping and office work. I thought this would be great since my husband and I are used to this kind of work and we have bad backs. When we showed up at the site. They didn't have us doing office work or shrink wrapping at all. They had us cleaning the house. (the church was inside a house set up as a church.) We cleaned the entire house from top to bottom, including cleaning bathrooms, scrubbing floors, dusting. They had my husband doing maintnance on their swimming pool and cleaning up thier dogs dog poop.

We didn't complain I mean and got through it we only had to do 4 hours so for us that made it worth it. BUT next time I do volunteering, i'm going to ask specifically what it entails before we do it. I don't mind scrubbing floors and vacuming and such if that's what I signed up to do. But I just think the organization should of let us know what the job was going to be, not just put "office work" on thier ad.

 

[Gisele]

My husband and I actually had a much different experience then it seems like the rest of you had.

We volunteered at a church by our house. It was a very small ministry in an old victorian home. The manager called me within minutes of signing up. On the give a day website the church stated they needed help with shrink wrapping and office work. I thought this would be great since my husband and I are used to this kind of work and we have bad backs. When we showed up at the site. They didn't have us doing office work or shrink wrapping at all. They had us cleaning the house. (the church was inside a house set up as a church.) We cleaned the entire house from top to bottom, including cleaning bathrooms, scrubbing floors, dusting. They had my husband doing maintnance on their swimming pool and cleaning up thier dogs dog poop.

We didn't complain I mean and got through it we only had to do 4 hours so for us that made it worth it. BUT next time I do volunteering, i'm going to ask specifically what it entails before we do it. I don't mind scrubbing floors and vacuming and such if that's what I signed up to do. But I just think the organization should of let us know what the job was going to be, not just put "office work" on thier ad.

I am sorry that your experience was not what had been stated. It is important to know what one's work entails, for sure. Sounds like you two must have been pooped by the time all of the cleaning was done. I personally intensely dislike cleaning toities. Yikes! No really.....
More power to you for having done all of the work! Kudos to you and your DH, and all other participants who have taken part in this promotion!

 

[Sally_fan]

Our experience was wonderful! My family as well as my parents volunteered for 2 days at a Small Animal Rescue Shelter. We helped the ladies that run it do a full clean of the rabbit pens (HUGE job), my children spent a great deal of time loving the rabbits up afterwards, & my husband and father did a ton of odd jobs (ie installing lights that they hadn't been able to, etc) for the ladies as well. We did it this past weekend & I have yet to recieve my 2nd email from the GAD people but I am sure that it will come. I'll just keep watching my in-box!

 

[disney4metoo]

My husband and I actually had a much different experience then it seems like the rest of you had.

We volunteered at a church by our house. It was a very small ministry in an old victorian home. The manager called me within minutes of signing up. On the give a day website the church stated they needed help with shrink wrapping and office work. I thought this would be great since my husband and I are used to this kind of work and we have bad backs. When we showed up at the site. They didn't have us doing office work or shrink wrapping at all. They had us cleaning the house. (the church was inside a house set up as a church.) We cleaned the entire house from top to bottom, including cleaning bathrooms, scrubbing floors, dusting. They had my husband doing maintnance on their swimming pool and cleaning up thier dogs dog poop.

We didn't complain I mean and got through it we only had to do 4 hours so for us that made it worth it. BUT next time I do volunteering, i'm going to ask specifically what it entails before we do it. I don't mind scrubbing floors and vacuming and such if that's what I signed up to do. But I just think the organization should of let us know what the job was going to be, not just put "office work" on thier ad.

It is so unfortunate that what was stated as "The Job" was not the case. I am sorry it went this way for you. I agree you should have know the scope of work beforehand.

We volunteered with "Project Linus" and had a great time. I even made a blanket for myself, because I liked them so much. In fact, I will be giving out fleece blankets for Christmas! Lol! I will continue to send blankets to Project Linus because it is a good organization.

 

[DisneyIsMagical]

Here is what the website says:

"We've reached our goal of inspiring one million people to volunteer a day of service to their communities, so the "Give a Day. Get a Disney Day." program has now ended. You can no longer register and sign up for volunteer opportunities on this site to receive a free Disney Theme Park ticket, but you can still continue to give back to your community by locating and signing up for volunteer opportunities through HandsOn Network."

It won't stop us from volunteering as we normally do. Oh well....

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

I'm doing mine through Operation Binky out of Calabasass...same type of thing as Project Linus, i believe.
When I'm done, we drop them off at a fabric store there that is partnering for them. The contact person is great with communication thus far. I know Ventura County is a bit far from where you are!

This is the same organization we did our with. I signed up and my entire Girl Scout troop did this. We made two blankets each - the large ones at our meetings. The girls and I are going tomorrow to Disneyland using the vouchers! Jenney from Patches Fabric is great was great with communication as you mentioned. She asked us to take a group photo at DL and send it to her so she could post it on her wall at the store...

 

[DizMe]

I signed up my family to make fleece kitty beds for a rescue shelter in Lincoln. We were confirmed *just* before the whole Give A Day program was shut down. I got my confirmation letter from HandsOn and we're ready to go.

BUT...I have called and emailed the shelter several times for information but have not gotten any response! The info on the Give A Day site said that instructions would be emailed and the blankets could be shipped. It has been a week now and I need to know what to do. I did find the shelter's website and there is a page about the Give A Day volunteer opportunities, but I would be a lot more confident if I could get some confirmation about what to do.

The Give a Day site said we had to make 15 kitty beds per person but the shelter website says 20. I am not sure I can make 100 beds, which with my girls' ages would be mainly me doing all the work since it is pretty complicated for small children (and dh doesn't sew). I also have to provide all the materials, which include fleece, cotton backing, and double layers of quilt batting. I may end up going for a couple of tickets and leave it at that. I wish I could have gotten more information, but that's what I get for procrastinating! At least I have until April 10. I sure wish I could get confirmation from the shelter that if I turn in 100 kitty beds I will get our vouchers!

ETA: I live a couple of hours from the shelter

 

[DizMe]

Ok, just wanted to say that I was able to speak to someone in person at the shelter today. I got a phone call this evening from the shelter's director of the Give a Day program and it turns out that they'd been emailing me since I signed up. My browser (AOL) sees their organization as a potential spam site and deletes the emails! They never even get in my spam folder. She told me that there were many irate volunteers who were having the same problem. I also discovered that they had 900 volunteers!!! 600 of them on the last day (the day I signed up).

I now have all of the info I need and will be making the kitty beds right away!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

We did Treasure Boxes for Teachers. We had to fill a shoe box with school supplies and drop off last weekend. I was able to do one for DD8, myself, DH, and my mom and dad.

Is it that easy? I mean we could do something like that... I wasn't sure what there would be that we could do my son is 7, we don't drive so its hard to get around. I don't sew or id think about the blankets.

Could you pm me an tell me a bit more about this treasure box? how full dose it need to be. what did you use? was it very much to buy?

I would like to find away to save money maybe one day ticket for each of us would make things easier.


nvm isee now its over all well