Category Archives: Charity

Dream #10 – How Disney Saved My Life

Hearing how Disney has touched different lives is always interesting and fun. Most of us have great stories of how Disney has had an impact on our lives. For one mother of four, it went much deeper. Rhonda – owner of ‘Walt’s Basement’ found herself in a terrible situation.

“Unexpectedly, it was Disney that saved my life as an adult. In the late nineties, I found myself in an abusive marriage after the birth of my third daughter. My ex had moved us to Florida for what he said would be a good job, yet nothing materialized when we arrived. We were homeless, having run out of money shortly before the baby came, and living with only the assistance of various churches and host families.”

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MOTIVATION TO MOVE

Have you ever thought about running a Disney race? Marathon, half marathon, whatever… If you are like me, your main problem is motivation. Running a marathon sounds all fine and dandy, but you actually have to get up and DO something. Therein lies the problem. I will write the training schedule on my calendar, so I make sure I know what the training plan is everyday. I start laying my clothes out in the evening, making sure they are ready in the morning for the 6 am start time. Then morning comes.

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MY FIRST DISNEY HAIRCUT

The other day one of my good friends asked me if I was going to get my haircut any time soon.  This was asked out of love, I’m sure, since every time she sees me on Skype, I have my hair up in a pony tail.  I do live in Florida and it is hot, so my hair is up most of the time when it is long enough.  I tend to prefer to keep it short, but there is a reason I’m letting it grow out.  I explained to my friend that I was considering letting my hair grow out for a while longer because I was thinking about donating it to Locks of Love again this year.

For those of you not familiar with Locks of Love, it is a non-profit organization that takes donated hair and makes wigs for children under 21 in the U.S. and Canada with hair loss from medical conditions.  You can read more about the donation process here.  There are several other similar charities like Pantene Beautiful Lengths and Wigs For Kids.  Each charity has their own requirements, so read carefully before considering donation.  The lengths range from 8 – 12″ minimums in a pony tail.

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SPRING CLEANING -PRINCESS STYLE!

"Cinderlise" photo credit: Ami Brundcik-Eller

“The last fling of winter is over …  The earth, the soil itself, has a dreaming quality about it.  It is warm now to the touch; it has come alive; it hides secrets that in a moment, in a little while, it will tell.”

-  Donald Culross Peattie

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I WISH I MAY, I WISH I MIGHT…

Photo credit: Meija Eller

Do you know why I love Disney World….Land….Paris? (Probably the others, too, but hey- I haven’t been there so I’m withholding judgment)  It’s because I can escape.  No, I don’t have a particularly distressing life.  I work hard, my husband and kids do too, and we enjoy throwing away reality and diving into a fairy tale.  Every once in awhile, though, I stop and think about those whose lives are, well….traumatic.  I mean, can you imagine?  More than that, can you imagine what a trip to Disney World would mean to them?

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TEN TO THE NTH DEGREE

As children growing up, we have all played the game ‘Telephone.’ It’s the word of mouth game where one person tells another person a phrase, and it gets passed on throughout a room full of people until the last person is told. Once the last person receives the message they compare the message they were told with what the first person started the message as. Most times it is not even close to matching the initial message, but every once in a while the message that every person received was exactly the same as it was meant to be.

Imagine putting that type of power behind a positive message. That is essentially what Pete Werner did. Pete is the DIS (www.wdwinfo.com) of the DISBoards (www.disboards.com) and loves living the Disney Driven Life.

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THE POWER OF 10 PLUS EMPLOYER MATCHING

Are you dreaming of your next vacation?  I know I am, and, if you’re anything like me, I’m guessing you’re dreaming Disney!  While, times are tough all around the world, those of us fortunate enough to still be employed can make a big difference. Here at the Disney Driven Life and Inner Mouse, we have pledged to help Give Kids The World through our support of the Power Of 10 Project. Give Kids The World is a magical organization that fulfills wishes of children with life threatening illnesses by providing all expenses paid vacations to Central Florida. The Power Of 10 Project is designed to increase donations by utilizing your network of friends, family, and coworkers to help raise $1 million for Give Kids The World.

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A DREAM IS A WISH YOUR HEART MAKES… PART 2

A nurse named Shari changed my life. I was down and out and was completely in the “why me” phase. She told me that she was going to help me through, and, boy, did she ever deliver on that promise. Every day she helped me through the anger and cracked away at my hard exterior. I have no doubt in my mind that she, even back in 1994, was the NDN1. As a Disney Neurotic Nurse, she was going to make me believe that everything would be okay, that there was a brighter tomorrow and that I would make a full recovery.

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A DREAM IS A WISH YOUR HEART MAKES… PART 1

We have all heard the first 12 words of the song composed by Mack David, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston for the Disney classic, Cinderella: “A dream is a wish your heart makes/When you’re fast asleep.” To some, those are just lyrics from a song, but for many–including myself–they hold a meaning that can’t be described in words.  Let me start from the beginning.

I was 14 years old and had just finished up my 9th grade year of high school. On my summer breaks I would always volunteer at the local summer camp on the military base in my town. I had braces at the time, and one morning while getting ready for my shift, the bathroom door swung open and hit me square in the mouth. OUCH! My mouth bled for a while and my mother thought I had knocked something loose in my mouth because I just wouldn’t stop bleeding. I had also been recently sleeping a lot and complaining of being tired. Being the concerned mother she was, she made appointments with a dentist and a doctor for me to get a physical.

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RUNNERS JOIN TOGETHER TO BATTLE CANCER

Photo credit: Megan Annunziata

During the 2011 Walt Disney World Marathon weekend, I was one of over 1200 runners and walkers joined together to train and raise money to battle cancer.  Over $4 million was raised by these participants in the WDW marathon and half marathon in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  These runners and walkers were members of Team in Training, or TNT.  If you’re a runner, you may have seen us in a race near you!  We’re the wave of people wearing purple singlets out there who are smiling at the start and cheering at the finish.

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