Walt Disney World and A Gift For Teaching Team Up to Help Orange County Teachers Welcome Students Back Into Classrooms

As 16,000 students return to classrooms throughout Orange County this week, Walt Disney World Resort teamed up with A Gift For Teaching to provide needed supplies to teachers in a way that promotes health and safety.

What’s Happening

  • As students throughout Orange County return to their classrooms, Walt Disney World Resort recently donated nearly 5,000 reusable bags, in addition to nearly 8,000 lanyards for students to hold their masks and 43 pallets of various merchandise items to be used as classroom incentives and prizes.
  • All of these items help A Gift For Teaching’s new curbside supply pickup option that allows teachers to place a supply order online and have a contactless pickup experience from the comfort and safety of their car, which launched in September.
  • Walt Disney World Resort and A Gift For Teaching have been working together for the past two decades to help make a difference in Central Florida schools.
  • Disney also donated more than 100,000 reusable bags, thousands of water bottles and lanyards, along with other back-to-school school essentials like backpacks and incentive items to schools and organizations in Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.

What They’re Saying:

  • Tajiana Ancora-Brown, Director, External Affairs, Walt Disney World Resort: “This school year looks nothing like we would have ever expected with new school supply requirements for teachers and students. Students now need lanyards to hold their masks and water bottles when they can’t use the water fountains. A Gift for Teaching needed reusable bags for their curbside school supply pickup for teachers. To meet all of those unique needs this school year, Walt Disney World Resort donated more than 100,000 reusable bags as well as other essential school supplies such as backpacks, water bottles, and lanyards to organizations across Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Lake Counties.”
  • Jane Thompson, President, A Gift For Teaching: “This curbside model was really the only way we were going to be able to still reach the most teachers possible because if we had kept the store open, we would have to limit the number of teachers who can visit at any one time…One of the things that we’re so grateful for at this time is partnerships like we have with Disney that have existed for two decades where Disney as a partner has been there to just serve and deliver and support our organization and our mission of ensuring that every student has every supply that they need.”