Local Students To Get Helping Hand from Disney Back-to-School Supply Drive

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., August 13, 2009 – As school-age children enjoy their last days of summer break, Walt Disney World Cast Members have been gearing up for the upcoming school year by shopping for new supplies for deserving Central Florida students.

“Kids don’t like to be different or feel left out,” says Cheryl Nathan-Weiner, a Disney Cast Member who volunteered to be a Back-to-School Drive coordinator for her work team. “I’ve always been fortunate enough to buy school supplies for my own child but I think about the kids who don’t have those advantages. It’s a great feeling knowing I can help them start the school year with the classroom essentials.”

Stocking up on boxes of crayons, rulers, pencils and notebooks, Disney Cast have bought and donated hundreds of thousands of school supplies over the last two weeks through Walt Disney World Resort’s annual Back-to-School Supply Drive. By August 21, the items will be sorted and distributed to local students and teachers through partnerships with A Gift for Teaching and S.T.A.R.S. (Supplies to Assist Our Students). Some of the supplies will fill backpacks en route to nearly 20 Orange County public elementary schools; others will line the shelves of the Free Store at A Gift for Teaching’s Orlando facility. All of the materials will go to good use.

“The need for school supplies is greater than ever in Central Florida due to the economic times,” says Chesta Hembrooke, S.T.A.R.S. coordinator. “By donating the necessities for school, Disney is making a difference in the lives of thousands of young local students. They are giving these children confidence on the first day of school so they can be on equal footing with everyone in their class.”

In 2008, Cast Members donated 460,000 new school supplies that filled 6,805 backpacks and delivered them to nearly 20 Orange County public schools. VoluntEARS also contributed an additional 303,000 supplies to A Gift for Teaching.