Give a Day, Get a Disney Day

On January 1, 2010, Disney launched a first-of-its-kind program — Give a Day, Get a Disney Day. Teaming with the Points of Light Institute, Disney is hoping to inspire one million volunteers to give a day of their time during 2010.

The promotion comes on the heels of a very successful year of helping families celebrate special moments in their lives — especially birthdays, since the entertainment giant offered free admission to their theme parks on a person's birthday during their "What Will You Celebrate?" campaign. Now Disney is asking everyone to celebrate the spirit of giving by volunteering a day in your own community and neighborhood. Do that and you've earned a free one-day admission ticket to a Disney park!

According to www.DisneyParks.com it is easy to obtain your free Disney theme park ticket. Simply follow these steps:

• Search & Sign Up
  Search for a volunteer service that inspires you and sign up with a participating organization. The search is pretty simple. Plug in your zip code or a city and state and either choose your area of volunteer interest (whether it is animals & environment, arts & culture, children & youth, community, education & technology, health & human services, hunger & homelessness or seniors & elder care) or choose "all" to take a look at every opportunity in a certain area.
• Volunteer
  Complete your volunteer day of service.
• Redeem & Celebrate
  After Disney has received verification that the volunteer day of service was completed, you will get an email with a voucher redeemable for a one-day, one-theme park ticket for you to use... or, you may donate it to a designated charitable organization.

The HandsOn Network has 250 volunteer action centers across the country that connects volunteers to more than 70,000 non-profit agencies that need help. So, it sounds simple enough... sign up for a volunteer opportunity and you're on your way to a fun day in a Disney theme park. Hold on to that enthusiasm, but take note that it might just be a bit more complicated than that.

First of all, many volunteer opportunities are limited to a small number of individuals needed for any one day or shift. Also many volunteer positions are only posted a couple of months in advance and those are filled quickly — some even have waiting lists. And, finally, some volunteer opportunities require an orientation and/or training session before being able to complete a day of service.

Other terms and conditions are:

• Quantities of free tickets are limited. The program begins January 1, 2010 and continues until tickets are distributed or until December 15, 2010, whichever occurs first.
• Must be at least 18 years of age to sign up.
• Only a maximum of eight (8) members of a household may be signed up.
• Children must be at least six years old to participate, and those under age 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
• Program limits tickets to one (1) per person, no matter how many times you volunteer.
• Canadian residents should visit www.DisneyParks.ca

Why not make a New Year's resolution to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate in your community during 2010? Many of the volunteer opportunities are for project that the entire family can participate in together. In giving a day, you are likely to receive much more than a fun day at a theme park... you may be rewarded with children that learn how to make a positive contribution to their community. And, that will ultimately reward us all.

In this photo, Donald and Daisy Duck help Miami resident paint a mural on September 29, 2009 during a "HandsOn Miami" volunteer effort at the Miami River in Miami's Little Havana area. More than 200 community residents volunteered to clean up the river's shoreline and revitalize the area. It was all part of the announcement to launch Disney Parks' new program for 2010 called "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day."