Steven Amos spent his August 6 birthday riding Walt Disney World’s famed Pirates of the Caribbean attraction for an entire Park day as a part of a marathon fundraising challenge. Amos vowed to ride the attraction once for every hundred dollars raised before donating all profits to Give Kids The World, a nonprofit for whom he serves as the Vice President of Advancement.
According to their mission, Give Kids The World (GKTW) “exists only to fulfill the wishes of critically ill children and their families from around the world to experience a memorable, joyful, cost-free visit to Central Florida’s attractions, and to enjoy the magic of Give Kids The World Village for as long as there is a need.”
GKTW partners with more than 250 Wish Granting Organizations globally to identify and serve children who have been diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses.
The nonprofit was founded by Florida hotelier Henri Landwirth in 1986, who learned of a young girl diagnosed with leukemia who passed away from her illness before her dream of visiting the Orlando area theme parks was realized.
Landwirth was inspired to start GKTW so that going forward, a child in need would never again run out of time before their life’s one wish is granted. After three years of arranging for families to stay in area hotels for their wish vacations, Landwirth once again enlisted the hospitality and theme park industry’s help to create the GKTW Village.
According to their website, the Village is an “84-acre, nonprofit resort complete with 166 Villa accommodations, entertainment attractions, whimsical venues, and fun specifically designed for children with critical illnesses.” To date, it has served more than 160 thousand families across 75 different countries.
Enlisting the help of corporations such as Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando, and many more, as well as countless volunteers and other generous individuals, GKTW is able to serve over 8,000 families annually. Individual stories are shared on their YouTube channel so that supporters can see the difference their help makes for families in need.
Amos began his journey with GKTW in 2019 after spending ten years working for the Walt Disney World Resort in various capacities. This year he used his birthday to bridge his past with his present in an all-day fundraising event that served to “raise awareness for the GKTW mission in new and creative ways,” a passion he lists in his company bio.
On his fundraising page, he wrote that the challenge would be the longest he’d ever done as he planned to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction repeatedly from the moment Magic Kingdom opened until its 11 pm closing. With 100% of the profits going directly towards GKTW, he set goals tied to incentives that unlocked additional mini challenges in an effort to inspire donors.
The total fundraising goal was set at $6,000, or “the cost of a wish,” and the mini goals were listed as follows:
UNLOCKING FUNDRAISING GOALS
$100 – For each $100 raised, I will ride Pirates of the Caribbean
$3,000 – Chug some of that sweet Beverly drink!
$6,000 (cost of a wish) – I will continue my quest of punishing my stomach and only eat turkey legs for the entire day
$10,000 – I will dress as a pirate as much as Magic Kingdom will allow me for the day
$11,101 – If we beat last year’s fundraising goal, I will allow someone that donated to choose face paint for me to wear all day long
Over the course of 13 hours, Amos rode the attraction a total of 28 times and raised over $11,000, posting frequent updates to his Twitter account.
He used his photo editing skills in his first post, updating the Magic Kingdom signage with his name and age to honor the occasion.
He updated again, presumably when the $6,000 mark was hit, sharing a photo of himself and a turkey leg.
He continued to show off his photo editing skills with a series of posts picturing Amos participating in various parts of the attraction.
And finally, his last post contained a heartfelt thank you and a fundraising results recap.
At $11,413 raised, this years event surpassed last years total by several hundred dollars.
For more information about GKTW’s mission and fundraising efforts, or to learn about how to get involved, click here.