Help Give Back to Disney Cast & Community
Layoffs and indefinite furloughs at Walt Disney World, other theme parks, and throughout the hospitality industry have had a disproportionate impact on Central Florida. So many have been negatively impacted–either directly or via family & friends who have lost jobs or are nervous about what the future holds. It’s nothing short of heartbreaking. (Updated December 1, 2020.)
Stories of miles-long lines at food banks or the worsening plight of low-wage service industry workers living in run-down motels in the shadow of the theme parks have become common on the Orlando and national news. Even before the latest round of Walt Disney World layoffs, there had already been a devastating and lasting impact on those who work in the travel and tourism industries.
For all of these reasons, we are strongly encouraging those of you who have the means to give back by donating to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida (or one of the several other local charities listed below). This is a non-profit that collects, stores, and distributes millions of meals per year to relieve hunger in the local community. Second Harvest is an efficient and large-scale 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization with a Four Star Charity rating (the highest score) on Charity Navigator. They are also supported directly by Walt Disney World.
In the past, many readers have asked how they can support the blog since we don’t do Patreon or subscriptions. This your answer. If you like this blog and have found it has helped improve or add value to your vacations, please donate to Second Harvest. If it hasn’t been particularly helpful, but has provided some amusement or been a nice time killer, please donate to Second Harvest. If you’ve found the blog neither helpful nor amusing and you only “hate-read” it, but you want to help make a difference, please donate to Second Harvest.
To get the ball rolling, Sarah and I have donated $500 to preemptively “match” the first donations by readers. We are confident you all will help us come through and hit our donation target. Our sincere hope is that we can raise many thousands of dollars beyond that.
Leaving The Rock Church in #Kissimmee where 60,000 pounds of food from @feedhopenow will feed families in need. The result of $61,000 raised by the #Disney Tourist Blog bloggers Sarah & @Tom_Bricker virtual food drive. @WFTV #distwitter #Orlando pic.twitter.com/syDnIE9o67
– Cierra Putman WFTV (@CPutman_WFTV) October 23, 2020
Giving Tuesday Update: With your help and support, we quickly blew past our original goal and have now raised over $64,000 for Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. We wanted to give an update with the tangible results of the fundraiser: a distribution consisting of two trucks filled with 60,000 pounds of food to feed families in need (video above), with still more semis to come.
We are incredibly humbled and heartened by all of your support: DTB readers proving yet again that you are all the best! Your donations thus far will fund over 250,000 meals for those in need. That’s wonderful and we couldn’t be prouder of everyone who has contributed, but with the scale of these layoffs and the unemployment numbers in Central Florida, even more help is still urgently needed in our community.
That’s why we wanted to once again bring this to your attention for Giving Tuesday. Every donation Second Harvest receives by midnight on December 1, 2020 will be doubled–up to $30,000–by Florida auto dealer Mullinax Ford. This means that every $10 donated is doubled to help provide 80 meals during the holidays, illustrating quite literally that every dollar counts!
Whether you live here in Central Florida or not, this is your community too as a Walt Disney World fan. The painful reality is that many people who only six months ago were helping make all of our vacations magical are now in need of help themselves.
The people impacted are the entertainers who brought a smile to your child’s face. Mousekeepers who work tirelessly so you have a spotless hotel room during your midday break. The behind the scenes heroes who ensure the magic fired on all cylinders. The countless other “supporting players” throughout Orlando who don’t work for Disney, but are directly impacted by these crushing blows to the region’s tourism-dependent economy. This list goes on and on.
For those of you who live in Orange County, California or visit Disneyland more frequently and would prefer to support your local community or those impacted at your home park, check out Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, California. Our friend Jeff Gordon out on the West Coast organized the “Disney Fans for Good” drive and the Disneyland fan community has likewise come together to raise an impressive amount in that virtual food drive!
As with the Central Florida branch, Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, California is a member of the Feeding America charity network. That organization also has a Four Star score via Charity Navigator, and they’re also a 501 (c)(3) private nonprofit organization.
Other groups are aimed at helping families escape homelessness and motel life along Florida’s Highway 192 corridor. This impoverished working class has been an open secret in Orlando for years and was even depicted in The Florida Project, an excellent and heart-wrenching film that is only nominally fictional.
These organizations include Community Hope Center in Kissimmee, United Against Poverty Orlando, and Embrace Celebration. All are focused on providing a variety of dignity and self-sufficiency based assistance, including educational opportunities, employment training, funds assistance, and placement and the opportunity to break free from the cycle of poverty.
If you want to help other related causes, there are also several grassroots organizations that have sprouted up by virtue of the initiative of individuals seeing unfulfilled needs during times of crisis. One group that has stepped up is Cast Member Pantry, which run by and for the support of Cast Members in need.
Along these lines, every week for the past several months Unite Here 737 has organized a drive-thru food bank where volunteers have handed out free boxes of groceries. This is a local union representing Walt Disney World hotel and food service Cast Members, but the food drives are for anyone in need.
This is just a partial list of the nonprofits, charities, and other organizations doing heavy-lifting here in Central Florida. If you are aware of other groups doing good for the community, please share them with us and we’ll update this section.
The last few months have been devastating and depressing, which is true for our community, nation, and world. It’s even ‘more true’ for some of you who have been personally, disproportionately impacted. Again, our hearts go out to all Cast Members and their families who are impacted by these layoffs and furloughs. We cannot fathom the devastation, fear, anxiety, and range of other emotions that comes with losing your dream position. So many Cast Members have made so much magic for all of us over the years, and this should help to begin to repay a little of that.
We feel like we know a lot of our readers, so we feel it’s appropriate to share a “we’re all in this together” message. The last several months have been incredibly trying (to put it mildly), and we cannot even imagine how much worse it has been for so many others. We hope you’re all out there staying safe and healthy, making good decisions and finding ways to persevere. This has not been easy and it probably will be a tough year to come, but we truly are all in this together.
We’ve collectively overcome a lot, including worse than this. No matter how bleak it might seem right now, things will get better. Here’s hoping we can all put this behind us as soon as possible, life can start getting back to normal, and Central Florida can fully recover and prosper. Our goal with this is to spread awareness for organizations doing good work and to ourselves support the charity best-equipped to help the largest number of people in this crisis. We truly hope you’ll join us in this effort.
Thank you for support, and for continuing to read the blog.
~Sarah & Tom Bricker
Hi Tom,
You have done a good thing here. Happy to assist.
Dear Tom and Sarah,
As an avid reader and avid Disney fan I am happy to donate to Second Harvest. It’s the least I can do for the kind people who create magic for us.
Thank you!
Lori
Thank you, Tom. I’ve been a regular reader since probably 2012 or 2013 and it’s posts like this that keep me glued to your blog.
Thanks for sharing
Hi Tom,
I found your blog in 2019 when planning my first Disney vacation as an adult for last September. I have been reading ever since and really enjoy your posts.
I am glad that you’ve brought these opportunities to help the CMs and the community to our attention. I’ve donated to Second Harvest using your link today. Thanks for going out of your way to give back to those that have made vacations so special for all of us.
Better change that team goal to at least $10,000. At least.
Thank you so much for sharing this.
Glad to see you have surpassed your team goal! I sent donations to second harvest and community hope Center. everyone who is skipping a trip this year should think about what they would have normally spent on a Disney vacation and donate what they can!
Thank you for shedding light on this important issue and for the opportunity to help! We were happy to make a donation.
Thanks for arranging this. As an avid “hate reader” it was nice to be able to contribute as directed.
Just kidding about the hate reading- your advice, and the amazing cast members have created our three best family vacations.
Absolutely love this blog, and it is the highlight of my day when I get to read it. My husband and I love Disney for the nostalgia, and the kindness and happiness that surrounds our trips. We knows this is made possible by all the amazing cast members. Thank you for taking the time to give us the information on how we can give back to them. Donated 🙂
Thanks for doing this – made a small donation just now, only wish it could be more!
You’re welcome, and thank you! Everything helps!
Will gladly donate to one of these organizations. I have been “lucky” in that I have continued in full employment ( in fact working much overtime) during this pandemic ( healthcare). And I’m glad to be able to have my weekly Disney visits back on my agenda.
This is cool!
Great idea but Disney needs to be at the forefront of this. They have a lot of money in reserve. They seem to forget that it is the “worker” that provides the excellent experience we all have. Funny how that always works. The lowest on the totem pole provides the excellent while the rich white men idiots take in the profits.
It will be curious how much blood they draw from this stone.
Disney has been paying for employee benefits for all the furloughed employees for months, even when the parks were closed and not earning any money at all. They have also been extended a lot of credit to keep operating. That means they owe a lot of money as well.
Mlke – denigrating anyone based on their race is unacceptable.
Thank you Tom and Sarah, this is a lovely gesture, one that both fans and hate-readers should applaud.
Why isn’t Disney at least feeding their 28,000 X-employees. They have how many millions on hand? If the higher ups took a pay cut more people would still have a job. They make it seem like they’re broke and barely getting by, not true. They just are not Raking it in millions. This is making me sick!
Disney, like all corporations has responsibility to pay back borrowed funds. I think they borrowed $13 billion to help cover employee benefits and other costs during the total and partial shutdowns. They have to make sure they have sufficient funds to pay that back. Until full re-opening, they have very little margin for error financially.
Sorry David, but they took out 13 billion in credit to pay 1.5 billion in bonuses for exces lol.
Thank you Sarah and Tom. I appreciate the blog is both a way to improve Disney parks trips and to make some sense of the crazy world of Disney parks operations. The layoff announcement was incredibly sad, thank you for providing a way for this Disney fan to help out a bit.
At least Disney protected executive bonuses and dividends of more than $1.5billion while laying off the workers! whew!
Yeah no offense to Disney I get they have a tough financial situation right now but you’re telling me execs didnt make enough money before and now if they take a pay cut they’ll end up on the street?? Until they clean up their act though donating is still a great idea
Thank you for these suggestions for places to donate. I’ll definitely be sending money to them.
What an awesome idea!