The Disneyland Resort and its Cast Members give back to the community 365 days a year, but at no time is it more evident than during the 12 days of Christmas.
Cast Members join together to participate in toy and food drives, adopt families and send care packages to military servicemen and women – those efforts alone benefited more than 22,500 individuals this holiday season.
“The Disneyland Resort has a long history of giving back to the community, and the generosity of our Cast Members continues to amaze me,” said Disneyland Resort President George A. Kalogridis. “By contributing food, toys, clothes, time and energy, our Cast Members are creating special holiday memories both inside our Parks and beyond.”
Here are a dozen of the many ways that Disneyland Resort Cast Members give back to the community.
- On the first day of Christmas…1,000 individuals receive necessities through the annual Adopt-A-Family program in partnership with MOMS Orange County.
- On the second day…2,000 military care packages and postcards are sent to military personnel around the world through Operation Uplift.
- On the third day…30 children at CHOC Children’s Hospital attended a holiday party hosted by Disney, and gift bags were provided to another 150 hospitalized children.
- On the fourth day…4 food packing events at the Orange County Food Bank, including one on National Family Volunteer Day, provided more than 150,000 meals to individuals in need.
- On the fifth day…$5,000 worth of Disney merchandise was donated by the Resort to support the Adopt-A-Family program.
- On the sixth day…$6,000 was donated to the Irvine Animal Care Center, and during the Center’s holiday pet adoption event, Disney VoluntEARS helped 241 animals find a home.
- On the seventh day…700 holiday Goofy hats were donated to five local nonprofit organizations including Boys & Girls Clubs and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
- On the eighth day…800 gifts were wrapped by Disney VoluntEARS during the annual holiday gift wrap event, raising funds to send military care packages.
- On the ninth day… 90+ Disneyland Resort Cast Members volunteered to host holiday parties at local nonprofit organizations, including Walnut Manor and the Blind Children’s Learning Center.
- On the tenth day…10,000 toys were collected for the Toys for Tots Foundation through the Resort’s annual toy drive – a tradition that was started by Walt Disney 62 years ago.
- On the eleventh day…11 food drop-off locations throughout the Resort resulted in a food drive that collected 2,100 pounds of food for families in need.
- On the twelfth day of Christmas…more than $12 million in cash and in-kind goods will have been donated by the Disneyland Resort and its Cast Members in 2009.
The Disneyland Resort is proud of its commitment to the community, a legacy established by Walt Disney. The Resort focuses on three primary areas: children and their families, arts education and volunteerism.