Cheers to Disney VoluntEARS! It’s a year of momentous milestones for The Walt Disney Company, and it’s time to celebrate another as the Disney VoluntEARS program honors its 40-year anniversary.
More than 100 Disney VoluntEARS from Disneyland Resort, along with their friends and family, came together with community members and representatives from Love Anaheim non-profit to celebrate 40 years of volunteerism in a fitting way with a celebration event and community project at Pearson Park in Anaheim – the area’s first official “city park.”
As part of the celebration, Disneyland Resort continues its commitment to the community with an exciting announcement! In partnership with the City of Anaheim’s Park & Facilities team, Disneyland Resort has identified Anaheim parks in need of assistance and will be joining forces with Love Anaheim for the first time to give back through a series of four park beautification projects taking place throughout the summer.
Beginning with Pearson Park, the beautification projects invite Disney VoluntEARS to work hand-in-hand to bring new life to local parks in a variety of ways including painting fences, benches and tables, gardening and planting trees, along with cleaning up playground areas and assembling care kits to be distributed to those in need within the community by Love Anaheim.
“We are grateful to Disneyland Resort and Love Anaheim for their collaboration to bring these park beautification projects to life,” said Anaheim Mayor Pro Tem Natalie Rubalcava. “As the first and oldest park in the city, it’s an honor to have Pearson Park selected to kick off this series and give back to a park that has supported the Anaheim community in so many ways.”
Since the program launched in 1983 at Disneyland Resort, Disney VoluntEARS, which was originally called the Disneyland Community Action Team (DCAT), has served as a cornerstone program of The Walt Disney Company – in which cast members, employees, crew members and Imagineers across the globe give back by donating their time, expertise and resources to the community.
“We are thrilled to celebrate 40 years of Disney VoluntEARS by launching this park beautification series in the city of Anaheim,” said Disney Ambassador Mark Everett King Jr. “Throughout the program’s history, our cast members have been selflessly giving of their time and expertise to make meaningful change in the community.”
In addition to projects hosted by Disney VoluntEARS like the park beautification series, cast members and employees throughout the company are encouraged to give back through personal volunteer hours in their community and redeeming their volunteer hours into Disney VoluntEARS Grants to support eligible charities of their choice.
To date, cast members and employees around the world have completed nearly 13 million volunteer hours since the program’s launch and approximately $23 million in Disney VoluntEARS Grants have been donated over the past decade.
Check out highlights from the event below and stay tuned for more inspiring stories to come from Disney VoluntEARS in honor of the 40th anniversary!