Ladies and gentlemen…..Start your engines! It all starts back in January when committee members turn the key to the ignition and it finishes over Labor Day weekend. It’s the Indianapolis Disney Meet, a Give Kids the World fundraiser. This year the meet was celebrating its 5th anniversary. Continue through the page break to learn more about our meet and how much money we raised for Give Kids the World Village of Central Florida.
Over the past 5 years the Indy Disney Meet committee has stuck to a consistent model which seems to work well for guest enjoyment and our fundraising efforts. Each January we begin soliciting for silent auction items, prizes, and meet essentials which make our event unique. The meet started 5 years ago with the goal of bringing Midwest Disney fans together for one day to celebrate our love of the Disney parks and to get to know one another. Over the years we added Give Kids the World fundraising to align ourselves with the DIS’s Power of 10 efforts. This year was no different. We set out to raise money to send children with life threatening illnesses to Disney World while having fun and meeting new people who love the Disney theme parks. This year was our most attended meet by far as we saw 171 guests come through the door.
One of the highlights of this year’s meet was our ability to give away $500 in Disney gift cards. Some of the gift cards were donated while some were purchased through our yearly budget. Guests were allowed to purchase as many raffle tickets as they wished. All of the raffle ticket money was donated to Give Kids the World. Also part of our meet was a silent auction with many Disney collectibles and other non-Disney items. Finally, a 50/50 raffle was conducted where half of the proceeds went to Give Kids the World while the other half of the money went to one winner. This year the Indy Disney Meet was able to raise $2600 for Give Kids the World. Since 2009, the Indy Disney Meet has raised over $10,000 for Give Kids the World.
Another goal of our meet is to try and bring as much of the Disney parks to our event as possible. The Indy Disney Meet was the first meet to ever serve authentic Dole Whips at its event. Although this year we went with traditional ice cream, we are sure the Dole Whips will be back in the future. Other traditional Disney activities at our meet included face painting, an Art of Disney Animation drawing class, and guests who brought similar food items found in the Disney theme parks like Canadian cheddar cheese soup and pretzel bread. All attendees are asked to bring a food item to share and some guests go all out by providing some great Disney-inspired food items.
There’s a lot of planning and activity that goes into coordinating a Give Kids the World Disney meet. There are several ways you can do it, and no one way is right or wrong. It all depends on your philosophies, how you wish to conduct the event, and your goals. One thing is for certain you can’t coordinate a meet like this without help, contributors, and people who understand what you are trying to accomplish. We all need help and the folks at this year’s Indy Disney Meet stepped up to help bring it all together. This included different sponsors, companies and individuals who donated auction items, prizes, and meet materials. It all came together at the finish line as the checkered flag dropped on this year’s Indy Disney Meet.
Each year we never know what type of guest turnout to expect. This year we left the meet in amazement of the support, generosity, and commitment we all shared as guests poured through the door. One final word from the winners circle…..Thanks to everyone from the bottom of our hearts who attended, contributed, or helped make the Indy Disney Meet a success. We’d also like to wish our good friends in New England a successful Give Kids the World Meet coming up this September 14th, 15, and 16th. We hope you raise a lot of money for Give Kids the World while having a lot of fun along the way.
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