TOGETHER WE RISE – DISNEY DAYS! A BIRTHDAY FUNDRAISER
Photo from Together We Rise
As you may have seen on Instagram, I’m very excited to be partnering with Together We Rise, a local organization, in creating a birthday fundraiser! I wanted to do something fun and inclusive for my birthday that was also meaningful and would make a difference. For those who aren’t familiar with their Disney Days, it is an event they host where they cover all costs, and reunite siblings who have been separated within the system at Disneyland! Last year they took 300 siblings, and I’m hoping we can help them take even more this year!
Here are a few details about the fundraiser:
-The fundraiser page can be found right here :
https://www.togetherwerise.org/fundraise/disney-kingfamily
-The first 50 people to give will receive a thank you gift from me!
-Zach and I will be matching whatever the fundraiser page raises!
-The fundraiser will be open until Sept 20th
It’s no secret to the anyone who knows me that I love Disneyland. I had a pass in college, and now I have a pass and take the boys regularly. It’s a place of magic and awe, and yet, if I’m being honest, I’ve started to take for granted the ability to go whenever we want. I can’t even imagine the pain kids in the foster care system face on a daily basis, especially those who have been separated from their siblings. So it didn’t take much for me to know I wanted to get as many siblings to these Disney Days as possible. If I am fortunate enough to experience it regularly, surely I could help get kiddos there with their brothers and sisters for a day.
Unfortunately, it’s fairly common for siblings to enter the foster care system together and be separated due to the lack of families that can take in multiple kids at once. These kiddos already have so much trauma being taken from their home, but then on top of it, they lose their sibling, and some are unable to see each other for a very long time. The sibling relationship tends to be the longest relationship an individual has in their life so it’s an extremely important one, especially for foster kids. The sibling relationship, if able to be maintained, helps ease some of the trauma these kiddos face. Sibling contact should be one of the highest priorities of the system, and anyone working with foster kiddos. And that is why I’m so excited to be organizing this fundraiser for these kids.
There is so much in our lives we take for granted on a daily basis. It can be easy to get stuck in our routines and busyness which blinds us in seeing others’ needs. We all have so much potential to help. Maybe this cause isn’t for you, but I hope that you take a minute and think about who you might be able to help this month, and that’s not limited to financial help. But if you do feel led to help and give, know you are blessing these kiddos immensely. More than the gift of a day spent at Disneyland, they get to spend an entire day with their sibling(s), and for some of these kids, that is better than Christmas morning.
Here is a link for Together We Rises’ main Disney Days page, where there is an incredible video highlighting their past years. https://www.togetherwerise.org/disney-days/