ORLANDO, Fla. – Walt Disney World cast members and “voluntEARS” were making magic at the A Gift For Teaching warehouse on Monday.
They collected more than 4,000 school supplies this summer through their annual back-to-school drive in an effort to help students and teachers in Central Florida.
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This is something they’ve looked forward to since the pandemic changed things up last year.
“We want to make sure they are set up for success for the new school year, so we are ready to dive right in and insure that our teachers and students here in Central Florida have the supplies that they need,” Walt Disney World Ambassador Ali Manion said.
A Gift For Teaching is a nonprofit organization that provides free school supplies to teachers and students in underserved areas in Orange and Osceola counties.
Teachers are able to come to the warehouse, grab a bag or shopping cart and shop for their classrooms at no cost.
“At A Gift For Teaching, we are here for the entire school year to serve our teachers of schools that are in need,” said Marisa Worley, with A Gift For Teaching.
Worley said the store just opened two weeks ago for teachers, adding that organizers worked twice as hard this year because the need was so great.
“The teachers were so excited to just be back because we had to close our doors last year during the pandemic. We were doing online ordering, curbside pickup, which was great but there’s nothing like being able to come back in these doors and pick out whatever your students might need,” Worley said.