Kissimmee - Children

3/26/12

Most trips had their first day of service today, but ours was yesterday. So today we had our first half-day and took the opportunity to visit Downtown Disney. We piled into our Tahoes and drove to Orlando where we began the day at T-Rex restaurant where we dined beneath roaring dinosaurs. After that we wandered around the different shops and got some awesome Disney souvenirs. We couldn't leave without some ice cream from the Ghiradelli shop, which was the perfect end to our morning.

Alyssa:
After Orlando, we had our second day volunteering at Give Kids the World and it was Halloween! We all got to dress up and I was Minnie Mouse, which didn't quite go with the station I was assigned- Magic Wand Making. So I donned a Ravenclaw robe and told anyone who asked that it was a little known fact that Minnie was a Ravenclaw. At my table, we had pipe cleaners and fluff balls to decorate the wooden dowels we were re-purposing as wands. When they were finished, we had them take an oath stating that they would only use their wands for good, never evil. The children typically fell into two camps: those who wanted no help, and those who wanted us to make the wand for them. Whether they were making the wands or we were, it was definitely a whirlwind three hours. Toward the end things were winding down, and a little girl came by in a Belle dress and wanted to make a wand. She picked out gold and shimmery pipe cleaners and stood there for a few minutes trying to figure out how to attach them to her wand. I asked her if she wanted help, and she looked at me, and said, "Make it look like that one," while pointing to a wand I had made earlier. So I took the wand and alternated the gold and shimmer to make a striped wand, and then topped it off with a gold heart I made out of pipe cleaners. Her eyes lit up as she waved it in the air and began to make her way to the fairy wing station. Her dad looked at me with such gratitude mixed with such sadness and gave me the most heartfelt "thank you" I have ever heard. My heart swelled and it brought tears to my eyes. It made me stop and really think for a moment; this was something that she might not get to do again, and I was helping make her wishes come true. I realized how even though what we are doing seems really insignificant, we are giving these kids and these families a break from the usual and bringing a tiny bit of joy into an otherwise difficult situation.

Stephen and Cat:
We both had meaningful experiences with the little girl dressed as Belle as well as we helped children make fairy wings and foam cars. The girl was small with short, blonde hair and a belle costume that Stephen simply recognized as a "shimmering gold dress." She refused help from both of us in her attempt to create wings and cars. It was the love we saw from her father that left the biggest impression, like a footprint in wet sand. Through his patience, compassion and warmth we could sense the love he had for his little girl. All three of us had experiences with the little girl in the Belle dress and all three times he was kneeling down next to her cherishing the simple moment of her doing some crafts. However, later on the girl was seen picking out her star in the castle. To explain, every child at Give Kids the World receives a star that they put in the star tower before they leave. That star will stay there forever so the families can come back at any time and find it still hanging. This was difficult since it served as a reminder the little girl is battling for her life.

Alyssa, Stephen and Cat:
We all feel so blessed to be here and be able to experience these moments with these kids. We could leave tomorrow and feel like we did something worthwhile, so we cannot wait to see what the rest of this week brings!