Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee hosts it public “Cheers To You” fall fundraiser on Saturday evening, Sept. 13, at Universal CityWalk, with a reception for all ticket holders that includes a Desert Party in Hogsmeade as well as after-hours access to” The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.” Tickets to the event are available to the public on the website at www. gktw.org.
What makes this fundraiser a little different is that the Village is under new leadership for the first time in 30 years, as Caroline Schumacher took over the reins of the organization from Pamela Landwirth three months ago.
“This fundraiser is an opportunity to bring our donors together for a light-hearted evening of gratitude,” Schumacher said. “We expect to see staff, volunteers, corporate partners, board members all being there together, celebrating and toasting to all we’ve done in 39 years and getting ready to celebrate our 40th anniversary next year,” Give Kids the World (GKTW) was founded in 1986 by Henri Landwirth, a holocaust survivor who came to America after World War II. In the 1980’s, after opening an area franchised Holiday Inn, he began to offer complimentary hotel rooms to children with life-threatening illnesses who wished to visit Walt Disney World. Recognizing the need for a dedicated place for such children and their families, Landwirth purchased the property in Kissimmee to establish the Village, which opened in 1986.
Pamela Landwirth had served as President and CEO for the last 30 years, overseeing its growth to the 89-acre resort with 166 villas for guest families. The leadership transition was a natural one, Schumacher said. “Pam was a force here. She did so much to build this place to what it is today,” she said. “So many of us grew up and had our careers under her leadership. She was an inspiration to so many of our volunteers, and so many of our staff and our families. It’s big shoes to fill.”
While Schumacher is the new President and CEO of GKTW, she is not new to charitable organization leadership, or for that matter to GKTW. For the last six years she served as President and CEO of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (another organization founded by Henri Landwirth) and, for 20 years before that, she worked at GKTW. She last served as VP of Operations for five years, after starting as the Volunteer Co-Ordinator and progressing through leadership. Her first contact with GKTW was doing a volunteer shift there in 1998 while still in college at Ohio Northern University.
Schumacher oversees an operation that has all the same departments of any hotel or resort even though it’s non-profit. “We have about 200 staff members, most full time. We also fill 1,200 shifts a week with volunteers who actually operate the place, running attractions, parties and activities, meeting and welcoming families as they arrive at airports, serving meals, scooping ice cream—that’s a coveted shift. Everybody wants to scoop ice cream—from 7:30 in the morning to 9:30 at night.
“My challenge right now is really that my own style of leadership is a little different, although not dramatically. All of us who step into the village have the same passion and heart for it and that really just drives us every day. For me, we’re in a different place in our Give Kids the World lifetime. The postpandemic impact on a lot of nonprofits is pretty prevalent and for us, we’re not really seeing a big burst in growth. And we don’t really see that on the horizon. We think we’re going to stay pretty much where we’re at. What we want to do now is really pour back into our infrastructure to ensure that we’re keeping it and maintaining it at the best level possible so that our families can experience the same experience for all our guests. It’s about longterm sustainability in all aspects, which doesn’t sound very exciting, but it’s all so that we can be here for as long as there is a need. It’s making sure that what we do and what we have is top-notch.”
Schumacher said returning to the Village full time and as President and CEO makes her even more appreciative of the organization.
“Coming back in, the beautiful part of GKTW is our mission is just unwavering, our volunteer commitment is unparallelled,” she said. “There is just nothing like it. At the end of the day, it’s the magic and the hope that the Wish families experience is the same year after year. And I think it’s pretty remarkable that we can do that so steadily and consistently.
“We’ve reached over 200,00 families since 1986 and now serve about 7,000 a year from all over the world.”
