Disney News

Walt Disney World Gives Back to Those in Need this Thanksgiving

Denise , 

Hi everyone!

Walt Disney World has shared how it is giving back to the community during this Thanksgiving week, including cooking 1000 Thanksgiving meals for Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida and Harbor House of Central Florida. And Disney VoluntEARS are bringing Disney magic to families.

Read below for all the details from Walt Disney World!

Photos copyright Disney

  • The talented culinary team at Walt Disney World is once again cooking up 1,000 traditional Thanksgiving meals for residents at the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida and Harbor House of Central Florida. Disney VoluntEARS will serve the meals to residents tomorrow on Thanksgiving Day – a tradition 25 years in the making.

  • This year, we extended our Thanksgiving celebration with Coalition for the Homeless. Families from the Youth Center were invited to Disney Springs for a very special preview screening of Disney’s “Wish” before it debuted to the world today.
  • One of our pastry chefs also sprinkled some extra magic at Coalition for the Homeless, spending time with young residents decorating sweet treats that Disney guests can find throughout the resort.
  • Across Central Florida, Disney VoluntEARS are helping other nonprofit organizations make magic for even more families in our community, working alongside Heart of Florida United Way to pack thousands of meal kits for families in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.

  • All of this joins other recent efforts like donating more than $200,000 to organizations that help ensure Florida families have the food, clothing and resources they need for the holidays and beyond including Osceola Council on Aging, Mustard Seed, The Sharing Center and Hope Helps, a food bank in Seminole County. Just last month, we donated another $1.5 Million to 19 nonprofits as part of our Disney Grants program, some of which provide direct aid to Central Floridians facing homelessness and hunger.

Walt Disney World Culinary Director Gregg Hannon says,

“Giving is who we are as part of the Disney family. We believe that everything we do to make magic can also make a difference, which is what I see happening when we provide Thanksgiving meals to those in need in our Central Florida community. We all might have a different interpretation of Thanksgiving, but gratitude is something that we all have in common. As a culinarian working at Disney for 26 years, I am extremely proud to work for a company and be part of a team that gives back in such an important way.”