The Give Kids the World spring break trip was designed for students to volunteer their time to make childrens’ lives better.

Nine students attended the trip, which was led by director of the College Store Sue Doremus and program coordinator of the Center for Community and Civic Engagement Sharon Sherick. The volunteers were there Monday, March 5 through Sunday, March 11.

According to the Give Kids the World website, “the village and its community partners provide children and their families accommodations in fully-furnished villas, transportation, tickets to theme parks, meals and daily entertainment.”

“Give Kids the World village is a fulfillment organization. The children at this village all suffer from life-threatening or life-changing situations, and they come here for a wish,” junior Cheryl Errichetti said. “The village is an amazing place where happiness inspires hope and magic really does exist.”

“The village only has a little over 100 paid workers and the rest of the village runs on volunteers,” Errichetti stated.

Errichetti went on the trip her first year at Elizabethtown College and loved it so much that she decided to go again. She most enjoyed volunteering as an ice cream scooper.

“The kids could have ice cream for breakfast because why not let them?” Errichetti noted.

Junior Miranda DeLauter desired to attend this trip because she is involved in Best Buddies on campus, which focuses on helping adults with disabilities. She is also a social work major.

“Give Kids the World is all about working with children who are dealing with a life-threatening illness and their families,” she explained. “They try and normalize their lives and let the kids be kids again, away from the hospitals and doctors.”

As a member of the Best Buddies club, DeLauter greatly appreciated that the entire village was handicap accessible.

“I think this is an important feature that everyone should recognize,” she said.

DeLauter’s favorite part of the trip was interacting with all the family members.

“As a social work major, we learn the importance of including everyone in the helping/healing process,” she said. “When a child is sick, we often put all of the focus on them and tend to forget about their siblings, parents and grandparents.”

DeLauter loved the motive of Give Kids the World.

“They focus on everyone while allowing families to be fully together again,” she stated. “I liked how every Thursday, the Village holds a Christmas celebration.”

“There are games to play, a parade and little crafts to do. The cool thing about it is that all of the children in the family receive a present from Santa,” DeLauter continued. “Christmas is full of magic, but Christmas at GKTW holds so much more.”

DeLauter’s favorite service project was bussing all of the tables.

“I know that sounds kind of weird, but being able to interact with all of the families and walking around cleaning up the dishes helped them focus on each other and gave them a break from their stressful lives,” DeLauter commented.

“You would think that this organization would be full of sadness due to the reason they are there, but I have never seen so many smiling faces in one place.”

Next year’s spring break trip is working with the refugee population with International Rescue Committee in Atlanta, Georgia.