Promotion rewards volunteers with day at Disney

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Published: February 16, 2010 5:20 a.m.

Last modified: February 16, 2010 2:00 a.m.

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Volunteering can be as much of a family affair as a trip to Walt Disney World. So why not combine the two?

What started as Disney’s “What will you celebrate?” campaign in 2009 has evolved into “Give a Day. Get a Disney Day.” The effort is the first of its kind anywhere and is hoping to inspire more than one million people to give a day of volunteer service to a local charity or organization. In fact, since launching the program just six weeks ago, more than 600,000 people have registered to participate, and some are from Canada.

“Even we have been overwhelmed by the response,” says Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

Disney included announcements of this program during their TV show, America’s Funniest Home Videos. Young Parker Franco saw the ad and asked his mom what they could do. Karen Franco, a Calgary resident and longtime volunteer with local organizations, registered with the program through volunteer.ca.

“I’ve always volunteered but now this got the kids excited too,” she said.

The Francos were recognized for their efforts at a special event held at Disney World last week that saw the likes of Extreme Home Makeovers host Ty Pennington and Kermit the Frog celebrating with the volunteer families.

“Since working on the projects, the kids have become more interested in doing what they can to help others,” she said.

Her children are now getting their classmates involved as well as part of their plan to volunteer.

To recognize their acts of kindness, Disney is celebrating volunteers by giving them a free one-day admission to any Disney theme park. You can register at volunteer.ca

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