I love being a teacher, because I never want to give up summer vacation. For me, it's not just about going on trips or sleeping in. I see summers as a time to step back, reflect on life, and then go after what you want with a renewed sense of purpose.
So this summer, when I stepped back, I realized that I had become so obsessed with my job that I needed to spend some time with people, places, and experiences that were completely detached from my life as a theatre teacher. We've also become a lot more stable in our finances, having paid off all of our debts except the mortgage, so it was also time to get serious about giving back to our community.
I put the two ideas together, and after hearing an inspiring radio interview about the volunteerism thought that I could at least use the summer to get involved with an organization. I've never really liked the idea of just cutting a check -- I know that every non-profit could use money, but it's never felt as satisfying to me as going out there and really getting involved and interacting with other people.
Give Kids the World Village was the organization I chose to get involved in, and I have since completely fallen in love with the place, and hope I get to spend a lot more time supporting them. I love them so much, in fact, that I wanted to start this blog to record my memories before my days there start blurring together.
Give Kids the World is, essentially, a dream resort for kids. The organization was started by a hotel owner who was contacted by Make a Wish Foundation. A little girl with a life-threatening illness wanted to come stay at his hotel so that she could come to the Orlando theme parks, and he agreed, but unfortunately she passed away before the travel plans could be finalized. This hotel owner was so affected by this that he created GKTW, a place where families who have a child with a life-threatening illness could come at a moment's notice, stay at the resort for a week, eat, and do all of the theme parks, all free of charge.
So when I say this place is magical, it really is. Kids can have ice cream, as much as they want, whenever they want. There is a castle in the center of the resort with thousands of children's wishes posted on stars all over the ceiling. It's Christmas every Thursday. Kids get the bedroom with the master bath. The GKTW mascot, Mayor Clayton the bunny, can come and tuck kids in by request. It is a place full of love, happiness, and hope.
What I love the most about this place is that they understand they make volunteering feel incredibly special. You can sign up for whatever you'd like, but if you are really excited about interacting and having meaningful experiences with the kids, there's so much that you can do.
My first shift was on Wednesday, at an event called "Kids Night Out." It's a time for parents to get a bit of R&R, so each volunteer is paired up with one kid and takes the kid to play games at an arcade, to dinner, and then to "Village Idol," where the kids can be contestants or judges in an American Idol-style show.
I was incredibly excited about the chance to spend one whole night bonding with a kid. My husband, on the other hand, was intimidated by the idea of such an intimate experience. He wanted to work a shift driving the big train, so that he didn't have to interact quite as much. Of course, I was the one scheduling our volunteer shifts and I somehow messed his up, so when we got there, Kids Night Out was the only open option. I was really worried that he would have a terrible experience, and, let's be honest, a positive experience is a big part of getting someone to volunteer again.
But it couldn't have worked out any better. The kids got to pick their "dates" for the night, and Justin was picked by a spunky five-year-old boy with a cowboy hat and Kentucky accent. His older sister, who was nine, picked me, so we had a wonderful evening the four of us, playing games, coloring, and eating dinner together. The brother and sister teamed up to perform in Village Idol together, where they robot danced like pro's. By the end of the night, the sister was asking when she could see us again and was holding my hand (I was particularly touched by this, as nine is about the age when hand holding stops being cool).
What I loved the most about this girl was her hopefulness. Volunteers aren't allowed to ask about if they are a Wish Child (a child with a life-threatening illness), what type of illness they have, and so on, but if the child brings it up it is alright to talk with them about it. Through the night, this girl shared with me that she was the Wish Child, but every time it came up she kept a positive glow in her eyes. She demonstrated for me how she could do thumbs-up and an okay sign with her left hand, after having been temporarily paralyzed by a surgery on her left side a few months prior.
At the end of the night, all of the participants in Village Idol got a trophy. I smiled, seeing that all of the trophies were obviously donations, as their were trophies from every sport imaginable. When she ended up with a soccer trophy, she didn't even notice that it didn't make sense for "Village Idol." Instead -- she exclaimed, "I love soccer! I've wanted to play soccer so long but haven't been able to," indicating her illness. I knew in that moment that to her, it was a sign, and that she could see herself playing soccer one day very soon.
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