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
Just donated . .again. Thanks for letting us know of the matching opportunity today!
Great initiative Tom and Sarah! I have gladly made a donation
Missing an option:
“Enjoys the Disney tips but truly reads for the sarcastic humor and honesty.”
Thanks for organizing this!
Donated! Thank you, Tom and Sarah, for all you have done over the years though this blog. Thank you for what you do now to help those people who have brought the joy of Disney to all of us.
I’m a fan of your blog; however, am also a fan of the Today Show on NBC — they just reported youall have succeeded in raising over $48,000 for the foodbank in Orlando. You are such an inspiration to all of us — please keep up the good work!
Thank you so much for getting this set up. So many of our park friends are in need. Keep up the excellent work!
Cool to see this featured in the Orlando Sentinel:
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-ne-disney-bloggers-raise-30000-for-laid-off-workers-food-bank-20201004-xpcump4uevbsfirzzode2wybha-story.html
Congrats on organizing for a great cause.
So glad to see the Disney community rallying around the message that you and Sarah continue to share with your readers – you two are definitely making a difference in this world – keep up the great work!
I just saw this CNN coverage of your fundraiser! You did a great thing by creating this opportunity for your readers to come together and support this cause. I’m proud to be a part of this community! Congratulations on your accomplishment and harvesting Disney love into something that makes a difference even beyond your original subject matter.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/04/us/disney-bloggers-food-bank-fundraiser-trnd/index.html
Ditto what Corinne said! I just logged on to leave you the same heads up on CNN coverage. You and Sarah are awesome and I’m another proud member of your community!
Same! Was doing my daily morning scroll of CNN and saw the headline. I immediately called my husband over. So cool! Hopefully the coverage generates even more generosity by bringing attention to the issue.
I haven’t been to Disney in over 30 years, yet your post inspired me to donate. The way you speak so eloquently and highly of Cast Members speaks volumes, as does the way people have responded. It’s a nice reminder that there is good in the world still. Thanks a bunch!
Thank you for the opportunity to support Cast Members through your food drive, Tom and Sarah. Wishing you every success.
Thank you, Tom & Sarah! We appreciate you making it so easy to support those who have made our lives so joyful.
Also, thank you for previously mentioning the fundraiser for Give Kids the World Village, Night of 1,000,000 Lights. Tickets went on sale today and we purchased two for our November trip. Since the parks are closing earlier, this will be a great addition to our pre-Christmas trip. I wouldn’t have know about this opportunity without your mention of it.
Thank you for all of the great advice!
Donated! Thanks for all the work that you do on this blog and for highlighting a great charity to help the Central Florida and Disney community. Also it looks like we are blowing past the $30K mark! Time for a new goal!
Thanks for showing us how to help! Donation has been made. Thanks again!
The situation is heartbreaking. Yesterday was a brutal day for the WDW employees. Those who received a call letting them know they had lost their job, those who know their job responsibilities will increase considerably now , those who don’t know what to say to fellow cast members who have been laid off, and those who will have ‘survivors guilt’. Some of these young people have worked their way up over the years and made it to decent positions of leadership only to lose it all. Spouses who have both lost their jobs there. It’s all so very sad. So much institutionalized knowledge will be lost by Disney and we know how hard they have all worked to build that and pass it on. The job prospects for the entertainment and hospitality industry in Orlando are incredibly dismal. Please, please be kind to these cast members and help them out wherever you can. The coming months will see potential evictions, long food lines and possible mental health issues. I have donated, I hope others will too. No amount is too small to thank them for their hard work and magic making over the years.
Great work Tom and Sarah and thanks for facilitating this
Donated! Thanks so much for setting this up Tom and Sarah! Your blog has been a bright spot of our NYC quarantine.
God Bless you Tom and Sarah! I just Donated and, cried when I saw $30,511.00 donated Cast Members are Disney!!!
Happily donating~ It seems like all of my charity during this virus is going to foodbanks, but I worked volunteer events for them prior to Covid and know how much of an impact they really make in each community. This was a great cause to contribute to…and since I’ve really appreciated this blog already for its witty and informative content I hope these donations give something to you as well. If nothing else, you’ll have a good concept of how much your readers care!
Thank you for a concrete way to help those that give so much to the Disney guests and the community at large. It literally made me tear up when I logged on and saw all the contributions that have now surpassed 30k. A beautiful reminder of the magic of kindness during this difficult time in our world. Keep giving DTB readers! 🙂
Thank you for this. Cast members have played such an important role in so many cherished Disney memories – I’m so glad to be able to give a little back.