Recently, employees of Wheaton World Wide Moving attended the Sweets & Snacks Expo Moving in Indianapolis, Ind. Now before you ask, it wasn’t just to collect and eat sweets, although that made for an even better experience. We teamed up with Give Kids the World (GKTW) Village, a non-profit resort in central Florida that hosts children with critical illnesses and their families for week-long, cost-free vacations, to gather the candy, which we then sent down in trucks to hand out to families at the resort.
The GKTW Village has welcomed over 176,000 families from all 50 states and 76 countries since its opening in 1986. An 89-acre resort with unique entertainment attractions, the Village boasts a life-sized Candy Land game, miniature golf, a train ride, a swing ride, 166 villa accommodations and more fun activities for children of all abilities. Wheaton sponsors the Keaton’s Korral attraction at the Village so all the children can experience the joy of riding a horse during their vacation.
Like GKTW Village, the Sweets & Snacks Expo is not new to Wheaton. In previous years, the event was held in Chicago, and Boerman Moving and Storage of Woodridge, Ill., was responsible for loading and delivering the donations. Central Moving & Storage of Orlando, Fla., has always been a great help to the drivers when they arrive in Florida.
This year, members of the GKTW team, local volunteers and Wheaton employees collected donations from snack vendors after the Expo ended and brought them to our team on the docks. From there, Wheaton Moving & Storage drivers and loaders packed three tractor-trailers that were sent to Florida.
Look at what some of our attendees had to say about the experience:
“It was a pleasure contributing to the Village from afar. Sometimes it’s hard to be the hands and feet when you are several states away. I hope the kids enjoy all of the delicious treats that were donated.”
-April Milner, Wheaton World Wide Moving Central Regional Sales Director
“It’s heartwarming to see the companies at the Sweets & Snacks Expo give so much so freely.”
-Chris Banguis, Wheaton World Wide Moving VP of Sales, Marketing and Move Management
“This was an awesome opportunity for us to give back to the kids. I loved being there with our team and seeing just how hard we all worked in a few short hours.”
-Abigail Witte, Wheaton World Wide Moving Marketing Intern
If you’d like to learn more about GKTW Village, you can donate here or apply to volunteer on the organization’s website.
