Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's finally happened.
We've gotten so sick of tired of Derek changing his shirt every
episode that we've decided to do assigned uniforms for the shows
for the foreseeable future. Derek, how you feeling about
this decision so far? Well, you made it very, very
clear. You go for the first show, you
will be wearing a shirt that I'm going to give you and I will
even drive over to your house to drop off said shirt and you will
wear said shirt for the very first show.
So you will see two other shirts on later shows, but today I'm
wearing the show approved shirt, which are incredibly, incredibly
comfortable and soft by the way. Where do you go from there?
Hey everybody, and welcome to this week's episode of The DVC
Show. I am your host, Paul Krieger,
joined as always by my lovely wife, Amy Krieger.
Hello, Senior Sales Associate for the DVC Resale Market, Derek
de Boer. Hey now, happy Monday everybody.
Good to be back. Good to be back.
And the Honourable Jeff Haslam. Hey everybody.
You have to like take the hat off and top of the ball.
Pretty bad today, but. Yeah, OK.
Keep the hat on. Keep the hat on.
Well, welcome this week to a very special episode of the DVC
show. And I hope that if you just come
here for DVC knowledge that you will stick around because what
we are talking about today is very near and dear to our heart.
And it is our key holder vacations.
What was formerly known as give back November, now known as our
keys to kindness campaign that we are launching throughout the
month of November. And I always feel special to
like, there's a lot, there's been a lot of moving parts
behind the scenes for the past few months and it's exciting
that we're finally here and doing it all.
Yeah. And this keys to kind of
campaign has multiple parts to it this year, which is really
exciting. So we're going to we're going to
talk about, you know, what different aspects we have.
And then I did a very, very special interview with a member
of our community. Her name is Alicia McDonald and
we are going to show that after. Yeah.
And just so that you're wondering keys to kindness
campaign, what are we benefiting?
We are benefiting Give Kids the World Village which is an
amazing organization. We have done fundraisers for
them the past few years. Amy and I even had the
opportunity to go and volunteer at Give Kids the World was like
2 years ago. I think it.
Was two years ago, Yeah. And if you don't know what Give
Kids the World is, it is an organization that grants wishes
for terminally ill children and their families to come to
Florida. They stay at the village that's
located in the Kissimmee Orlando area and then they get tickets
to theme parks and they get to experience different things just
depending on what their wish is. Of course, a lot of times it's
Disney or Universal or Legoland or Gatorland, SeaWorld, you
know, Busch Gardens, just depending on what what the child
is, is excited about. And so that organization, they
provide all the housing and the tickets and basically just make
the process so worry free for the family.
We've even seen them, you know, at the airport picking up the
wish families, you know, starting off their, their
vacation, you know, giving them a break from, you know, the
reality and in the situation what they're going through.
So it's very special to us. We have been at the village
multiple times. You know, they used to do the
night of a million lights, which they did during the pandemic.
That was, you know, amazing experience.
They still light up the village now, even though they don't do
the night of a million lights and having all the people come,
but they still light up the village for the families that
are staying there. And we've gotten to go to a few
of the the Christmas soirees and seen the village lit up.
And then of course in November a few years ago, we got to work
the carousel, which was a very fun, a little bit nerve
wracking. Fulfilling and nerve wracking
all at the same. I feel very nervous being put in
charge of a of a ride vehicle with people on it.
But we did good we did. We did a.
Pretty good job we did. Jeff, you actually got to to
head over and do one of the soiree events with us a few
years ago. How was that?
I did, and it was to this day, one of the most memorable and
heartwarming experiences that I've ever been involved with
personally. My wallet tends to disagree.
It wasn't very warming for it, but it was such a good 'cause
that we were just throwing money at things, you know, 'cause they
do auctions and giveaways and raffles and just such an
amazing, amazing, you know, group of people that that handle
this big moving machine. You know, just all kinds of
things for people to do while they're staying there.
From merry go rounds and trains to ice cream to just all kinds
of the facility itself is just very, very special.
Yeah, yeah. And, and I think what people
fail to understand fully is that like Amy said, these people are
coming down here. This isn't this is an all
inclusive vacation that they get to experience.
They stay at the village, they go to the theme parks, they eat
there and they take care of them.
And they have a very memorable and magical week there for I
think Amy and I and, and maybe Jeff, like it's something that
for us being kind of newer trans plants to the Florida area, it's
it's been fun to experience give kids the world.
But I imagine Derek as, as a local native, this has been
something that you know you've, you've known about for a long
time and, and kind of been involved with in various ways.
Yeah. And it's one of those
organizations that once you find out about it and once you get
information about it and you hear stories about it, it's just
one of those things where you're like, this is the most
unbelievable organization. And I've had so many people over
the years that may not have ever given to a charity organization
before and they've experienced and they've donated to Give Kids
the World because like you said, it's an opportunity for these
parents and these kids to just not have to worry about life for
a while. That I think, and it's very
emotional that I think all of us, you know, love our Disney
Vacation Club and we love coming on vacation because, oh, we get
to forget about the real world for a week.
You know, I don't have to think about work for a week.
For these families that come down as part of Give Kids the
World, they're not just forgetting about work, right?
They're forgetting about doctor appointments and they're
forgetting about chemo and they're forgetting about
everything else that is just so unbelievably heartbreaking.
And just let them just focus on a magical vacation.
Let them, you know, not have to worry about we've got this
appointment and this here, or we're waiting for this result or
here. It's fun stuff like what, you
know, what do you want to do today?
Should we go to Disney today? Should we go to Universal?
Should we attempt to ride the carousel that Paul is going to
control for our family? But no, it's a, it's a fantastic
organization that the DVC resale market was lucky to be involved
with for a few years. And I even remember our first
year we did back when it was I think give back November and we
were able to raise thousands and thousands of dollars for them.
So it's always that time. And I know we're going to get
into all the different arms and legs of different ways that you
can give that you may not even realize that you are giving.
So that's what makes it really, really great.
Yeah, well. And on top.
Of that sorry if I can just cut in here.
I, my ex wife's nephew had a wish granted by make a wish and
it wasn't to come to Disney. It wasn't give kids the world,
but to see how that organization, excuse me
interacts with give kids the world with Disney and some of
these other theme parks. It's just, it's not just putting
people on a plane and flying them and then driving them to
Disney. They they do their best to
handle all the medical needs that these kids are dealing
with. And, and we're not talking the
flu. You know, these are very serious
illnesses. And like, like Derek was saying,
chemo and medical visits and doctors and and give kids will
just has such a handle a finger on that pulse that it just
really does give not only the kids, but those parents and
those family members. They get to join those kids.
A real life break. Yep, Yep, for sure.
And I think it's tremendous to kind of start to measure the
impact that this show this amazing DVC fan community, our
entire key holder vacations companies, all of those brands
have had on give kids the world over the past few years.
So at its most basic sense, and I'm talking about last year
here, last year all of our core companies, so DVC resale market,
DVC rental Store, Monera Financial, Be our Guest
vacations, Magic Vacation title, all of them essentially are
giving back a portion of proceeds during the the month of
November to give kids the World Village.
And I believe that the total on that was around $15,000 that was
given last year alone from all of those proceeds.
Now that's tremendous in its own right, but we have done
basically for DVC fan just put up a fundraising page each year
for this for you our community to give back also.
And last year we raised somewhere around $10,000 I
believe total just as our DVC fan community.
So last year $25,000 was raised and such a profound thing and
we've done this for several years now.
So when it got brought up several months ago, I kind of
said and and you know, we all work in areas of this company
and you know, we do our work on a daily basis, but to do work to
do good in this regard is special.
And so it really motivated us to think outside the box and try to
do some different things this year.
And so that's why we've kind of pivoted from give back November
to kind of keys to kindness and and really focus on on the many
different ways that we can give to give kids the world.
Yeah. So the first one that we want to
bring up is that we want to encourage you, especially if you
are local to the Orlando area or if you're going to be visiting
during this time, to consider signing up for the Gingerbread
5K. It is located at Good Kids, the
World Village. What is really cool about it is
it takes place in the evening. Paul, give me remind me of the
day because I don't have my glasses.
Yeah. And I will preface this because
there's a couple of things we're ironing out with some details of
some other stuff that we're about to announce here.
But it's possible that this episode might go up right after
the Gingerbread 5K. Yeah.
But if you are, if it goes up before and you are able to join
us, that is going to be on the evening of Saturday, November
8th. Yeah.
And if you if it goes up after, thank you for joining us.
But it you know, you get to be running under the lights.
So that is something very special.
You know you don't always get to see that.
So something to consider. And if you miss it this year,
guess what? They do it every year, so.
And we said running, but we also mean that you could walk.
Yeah, you could. You could roll.
You could do whatever. Yeah, whatever.
Whatever working. Take it in, you know, you know,
experience the lights, whatever, whatever works for you.
But there are going to be several members of the DVC fan
team that are running. Paul and I will be there,
Alicia, who is going to be who you'll see our interview with,
She's going to be there with her daughter Natalie.
And I believe Jeff Drew, Bosnia is going to be running with us
as well, so. So yeah, it's going to be a real
special event. And I think what's unique to it
this year is that Give Kids the World is also offering the
ability to do a virtual version of the Gingerbread 5K or
Gingerbread Run. So you know, if you're, if
you're not able to be down here for the event, check that out.
Also, again, it is over at give kidstheworld.org where you can
register for that run. The other ways that we've kind
of come up with this year. Again, our key holder vacations
brands are all again going to donate a portion of proceeds
during this month of November back to give kids the world.
We're very excited about that. But you might be wondering what
are these magical shirts that we all have on and why did we
decide to have matching uniforms?
And for that grand prevail, I'm just going to ask Derek to stand
up and turn around real quick because I just mainly want him
to have his Vanna white moment here for us and, and, and show
us show us these shirts in their entirety here.
So. This is going to be a little
bit. Oh yeah.
This is what the people came to see.
Really. Yeah.
Yeah, not really. I'm just going to put a picture
up. I really just wanted to see if
you do it more than anything so. We went.
That was a valiant effort, Derek.
We worked with a local shirt designer, her name is Bree, at
Darling Dream Company, and we kind of said, hey, what would be
something cool that our community could get on board
with and actually purchase with all of the proceeds going to
give kids the world. And so we said, why not a shirt?
And we, we previewed this, you know, I think a couple weeks ago
on our Oktoberfest show. But this could not have come out
better in my opinion. Yeah, and I believe, you know,
tell me if I'm wrong, but there are two options where you can
have this as the front of your shirt, correct?
The keys to kindness with all the little, you know, nods to
give kids the world and our companies or that can be what
we're wearing, which is on the back of our shirt.
And then we have a little key holder vacations logo in the
front. So you have both those design
choices as well. Correct.
And we figured that you probably don't want to necessarily be a
walking billboard for key holder vacations on the front of your
shirt. So I believe the front and back
version is actually had. It has that keys to kindness
logo basically right there on the chest portion of the shirt
where we have our key holder vacations logo today, so.
Thanks. Thanks so much Paul for giving
me the one where it's on the back, because if it was on the
front I simply could have stood up without.
Pulling a muscle I. I like to make you have to
dance. That's, you know, that that's
part of the show you never signed up for.
Actually, I make Jeff dance more than I make you dance.
Most. Most.
My nickname is in fact Dancing Monkey.
It's true. But super, super thankful to
Bree and Darling Dream Company for putting together this shirt.
It was kind of a last minute thing that we decided to do, but
we, I love how the whimsical elements of Give Kids the World,
the carousel, the train, the the hot air balloon, all kind of
intermingle with all of our key holder vacation brand logos.
You can see the suitcase for DVC rental store, the unlocked magic
logos on there, DVC resale Market right above the carousel
horse. And then of course, we had to
put DVC fan right on the train right there.
Yeah. And it's also, it's also just a
really nice quality shirt, so very surprised.
That was the first thing and tonight when we jumped on this
call, Derek said is he was like Paul this this shirts no joke.
Like you know, it's it's worth every penny.
So if you are interested in purchasing this shirt with the
proceeds going back to Give Kids the World for this and
everything that we talked talk about tonight, you are going to
head to keyholdervacations.com/kindness.
And from that site you are going to find information about
everything that we talk about here within the next few minutes
and throughout the show. So we've talked to shirts, we've
talked to Gingerbread Run now the one that I'm really excited
for. So we have been plugging our Key
Holder Vacations group cruise for quite some time and we have
had I think over 60 staterooms. See, we have 60 staterooms right
now. Yeah, it's like 120 something,
26 or something, people. Yeah, and we made.
We made sure that you are all within walking distance of Jeff
and Derek's room so that you're really close by.
You can knock on their door, head out and have some breakfast
on their balcony in the morning. But I know.
Which we would be fine with, but Amy and Annie might have
something to say. I.
Don't know. I think they would.
But thank you to everyone that has booked that cruise so far.
But I know many of you out there maybe have seen the price of the
cruise and it's not attainable for you.
So we went to Give Kids the World and we said, hey, here's
what we want to try to do. We want to do a giveaway for the
ability to go on our Key Holder Vacations group cruise next
year. And we want people to be able to
basically purchase raffle tickets for that giveaway with
every single dollar going back to Give Kids the World.
And that's exactly what we've done.
So you will have the ability to go on our Key Holder Vacations
group cruise next year. And I had to pull up the other
thing on the side over of my computer screen just to go this
go through this real quick because it is more than just
that cruise. So let me quickly go through the
prize package as we have it designed.
The winner essentially will get 1 ocean view balcony stateroom
aboard Royal Caribbeans, Royal Caribbeans, Royal Caribbeans
Utopia of the Seas for two guests in a double occupancy
cabin and that is for our key holder Vacations Group cruise
which is July 20th through the 24th, 2026.
If you need to travel via air or if you reside out with with
outside 100 miles of the cruise port area, we will also be
providing a $500 travel credit towards that airfare.
You're also going to be able to want to come in early, come in
that weekend before the cruise. The cruise leaves on a Monday
and then gets off on a Friday that weekend before.
So I guess the 18th and 19th. That Saturday and Sunday we are
going to be doing a lot of fun things around Walt Disney World.
So we're bringing you in a little bit early.
You are going to have two nights pre cruise in a deluxe studio
villa at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort.
You are also going to get 2 one day park hopper tickets for you
and your guest so that you can head into the theme parks on
Saturday if needed. You can have ground
transportation from the Orlando International Airport to the
Walt Disney World Resort and also transportation from the
Walt Disney World Resort to Port Canaveral to get on that cruise
ship on Monday. Last but not least, we know
you're going to want to eat, maybe buy a souvenir or two.
So you will get a $250 Disney gift card.
The estimated approximate retail value for the entire package is
$5200. That's.
Amazing. We're probably going to get this
question a lot. You know, what if I'm already
booked on the group cruise and so we've already considered that
you should definitely still try the win the package if you're
already booked on the group cruise.
What's going to happen if you're the winner is we are going to
refund your deposit and then we are going to be paying your
final payment and then you'll get all the other goodies that
come with the prize package. Yeah.
And this entire prize package is being donated by Key Holder
Vacations, our our parent company to give kids the world
so that every single dollar, every single raffle ticket sold,
every penny goes directly to give kids the world.
This is that thing for me where I said I'm not even.
I can't even estimate the impact maybe this giveaway might have.
So please, please, please if you have thought about maybe going
on our group cruise or if you have 10 dollars, $20 to spend,
buy some raffle tickets and hopefully we will see you aboard
Utopia of the Seas next year. Again, all information.
Derek, you're not eligible. No, we already gave you a free
cruise, Derek. Yeah, you're you're already
going for free. And what Derek doesn't know is,
is the ground transportation that the winners get is going to
be Derek and I in like taxi hats and my car went.
From the airport. Just shuttling back and forth as
fast as you can. I would advise.
People to double check, we're trying to sell tickets.
I would, I would advise people to double check the terms and
conditions because I'm pretty sure that that element will not
be in there. So, but yeah, Kyoto
vacations.com/kindness, if you want to find the link to then
register, get those raffle tickets.
This will be open, I believe, throughout the entire month of
November. Those dates are still a little
bit in flux though. So, you know, head over to the
website and please, please enter and we'll be sharing a lot more
information about that over the coming month.
Yes, Derek. And I, I can't even begin to
tell people, if you're wondering, like, are these
events fun? Like should I attend one of
these DVC fan events? Are they fun?
I can tell you honest to God, we just wrapped up Oktoberfest a
few weeks ago and I'm still laughing about some of the great
memories that I had through Oktoberfest.
I'm still talking with folks that I met at Oktoberfest.
Jeff and I just ran into Eric and Tara from Oktoberfest at our
beer fest last weekend. This community is so awesome and
so much fun that you will make friends for that.
You will have way beyond when these events are over, so I
can't imagine how much fun we're going to have on a boat.
It's going to be amazing. Yeah, we had an influx of cruise
bookings, cruise quotes after Oktoberfest, so I think a lot of
people enjoyed being around the community and decided they
wanted to go on the cruise, so. And if you're still thinking
about it, that link is over on that key, key order vacations
website also and you can put in a a request for a quote there.
The last two things I want to bring up before we kind of segue
into our segment with Alicia is on their most basic form.
I know Amy kind of touched on this briefly, but volunteer
donate. Those are the two big things
that give Kids the world. I receive emails all the time of
the many, many different volunteer positions that need
filled on a weekly basis at Give Kids the World.
Amy and try to Amy and I try to get over there when we can.
But if you are down here and you find yourself with an extra day
and looking for something to do. There's so many things you can
do. Scooping ice cream to working
one of their accessible rides to, you know, helping with the
trail rides at the pool, delivering pizza.
You know, there's just so many things that you can do, you
know, helping with crafts and things like that.
So if you've got, you know, if you're local, you know it, it's
a lot easier. But if you're coming down on
vacation, you've got an extra day, consider, you know, heading
over to give kids a rural village.
It is an easy, you know, rideshare away from Disney.
We've actually taken an Uber there before, so you know,
whatever, whatever, get you over there, go to their website,
givekidstheworld.org, check out the volunteer opportunities,
sign up, you know, get the regular e-mail where it tells
you, you know, what their needs are and, and consider it's a
very, very rewarding experience. It's a, it's a super, super
rewarding experience. And no joke, I have had members
tell me that they've taken obviously tons of Disney trips
over the years, but they took time to volunteer and they said,
Derek, no joke, it was the highlight of our whole entire
Disney vacation was the time that we took to go to give kids
the world. And now we're going to try to
carve out some time on every single vacation.
So it's something that will last way beyond when your volunteer
time is done. And then if you're just looking
for, you know, a way to donate if you're not interested in one
of these fancy shirts or if you're not interested in the
cruise and you just want to just make a general donation to give
kids the world. We have a custom donation link
also at keyholdervacations.com/kindness.
I think that does it for our Keys to Kindness campaign.
And we're going to segue into a segment that Amy and I actually
recorded about a week or two ago with Alicia, who is now a member
of the Monera financial team. Yeah, and we're just so thankful
that she took the time. You know, her and her family,
they were a wish family because of her son.
And, you know, just takes a lot of courage, you know, for a
mother who's lost their child to come and talk about their
experience, talk about what give the kids the world has meant to
them and why they continue to come back and volunteer, you
know, themselves and why they love seeing, you know, support
for this organization. And Alicia is very special to us
because she came to us from the DBC fan community.
And so when we were looking for, and I talked about this a little
in their interview as well, but we were looking for a new loan
originator. We I met Alicia at DVC Fan
Summerfest and just knew right away like this, this girl needs
to work for me and she's been fantastic, you know, ever since
so. I remember sitting down at a
table with her and her husband and just starting up a general
conversation with them because they came to Summerfest and she
had a Give Kids the World shirt on.
And I asked her if she'd been to the village and done anything
with the village. And that kind of just worked
into that conversation. And then also, you know, talking
about her career and everything. And there's never been a moment,
I think that Amy and I kind of just go back to time and time
again that we keep replaying and it's, it's so special that she
is a part of our organization now.
And it's special for us that she wanted to sit down and share her
story with you all. Alicia, thank you so much for
joining us today. And for those of you meeting
Alicia for the first time, she is very special to us for a
couple of reasons. First, we met Alicia at the DVC
Fan Summerfest event in August and she is part of the DVC fan
community. But.
When we met and talked with Alicia, we also learned that she
is a loan originator and at the time Monera was looking for a
few loan originators. So it just so happened that
Alicia now works for Monera with me as a loan originator and we
are so so lucky and thankful to have her.
She's been a rock star since she started.
Started just in August, but Alicia, tell us a little bit
more about yourself. So I am from a very small town
in southern Illinois and my husband is actually military so
we actually move around a whole lot.
We actually got into the DVC community about a year ago,
really fell in love with the DVC fans, took that opportunity over
the summer just to kind of take that chance, meet Amy and Paul
and just the whole group. And they're just so amazing.
And I feel completely blessed now to kind of have that
opportunity to work with Amy on a daily basis and kind of do
what I still love and originate loans with them.
So Alicia, we're, we're so thankful that you're here and
especially to share something that's so deeply personal.
To start, would you be willing just to tell us a little bit
about your son Brody? Because we're going to talk a
little bit more about your connection to give kids the
world. But tell us about Brody and some
things that made him. Special.
So Brody was just the sweetest mess, well behaved little boy
that I could have ever dreamed about.
He had not only blonde hair, it was completely white.
And he was so smart. He had a vocabulary that could
blow anybody away. He really loved the Legos and
video games. Those were two of his favorite
things. And me and him used to go on the
weekends to zoos together. And whenever he was actually
starting kindergarten, he had told me that he wanted to be a
zookeeper whenever he grew up. Alicia, no parent ever imagines
receiving the kind of news that you did when Brody was
diagnosed. How did that reshape your
family's world? So Brody was actually diagnosed
around Christmas time and he was diagnosed with a very rare T
cell lymphoma. And almost instantly our lives
had completely changed. We went from being excited to
him starting kindergarten to almost immediately spending all
of our time in the hospital. The chemotherapy that Freddy was
on actually required him to be admitted with each round that he
had. And after he had finished the
chemo, he went straight into a bone marrow transplant.
And it seems like our lives had just completely transformed to
only being at the hospital. We had relocated states so that
he could have a better doctor and I had quit my job so that I
could care for him full time. And it just, it was a lot of big
changes all at once with that diagnosis.
Yeah, I can't imagine during the time that Brody was in
treatment, what helped you and your family get through those
long days and those hard moments.
Honestly, I kind of just feel like you just have to take those
things a day at a time. We really just tried to kind of
focus on those small things, such as watching his favorite
shows. He really enjoyed watching
people on YouTube play video games.
I never just quite understood that.
We would also play with Lego sets and build those in the
hospital. And the hospital that we were at
actually had bicycles for the kids so that they could go
around them in the hallway. And we also learned kind of
pretty early on that Birdie would qualify for a Make a Wish.
So that kind of gave us the opportunity to kind of have
something positive to kind of plan why we were in the
hospital. So tell us a little bit more
about Give Kids the World. How did you first hear about the
Give Kids the World Village and the Wish trip?
Process. So during one of our first
hospitalizations, our assigned social worker at the time
actually shed some light that Bernie would qualify for that.
Make a Wish, why? She was in the process of
getting him approved. We took that opportunity to kind
of learn what Bernie would like for his wish.
It didn't take him too long. He wanted to go to Legoland.
That was his dream. So once he was approved, we
worked with Make a Wish coordinators and they kind of
planned the whole process for us.
And they have let us know that any kids that wish to go down to
Orlando for any of those amusement parks actually would
stay the week at Give Kids the World Village.
And that's kind of how we first learned about it, OK.
Can you describe your family's first impressions upon arriving
at Give Kids the World Village? So almost immediately, you could
just tell that this place was made for kids.
So all of the buildings are in bright, fun colors.
You can see a train that the kids could ride on.
There's a carousel and a sleeping tree.
And the volunteers, they are just as amazing.
They're always there just kind of offering any type of help
that they can, whether that be taking a tray to a table for you
or to give you a ride around the village.
And as a parent, it just kind of felt like you knew that your kid
was going to have a week, that they could just be a kid again.
Alicia, you mentioned that Brody loved Legos, but some of your
most treasured moments happened right at the village.
So what do you remember mostly about those days at the village?
So I just remember one of the nights Bertie just spent what
seems like hours just staring at this model train set that they
have at the village. He was completely mesmerized by
this thing. It just had so many tracks that
the trains went on and there was a ton of buttons that the kids
could push just to make things around the towns kind of go,
such as airplanes fly or the fire truck sirens to go off.
So he enjoyed that they he really enjoyed the ice cream
too. The kids could actually have ice
cream anytime that they wanted. They could have ice cream for
breakfast that they wanted. So what stood out to you about
the village and how it's designed for children with
medical needs and mobility challenges?
So they really make sure that inclusion is at the heart of
everything that they do. All the amusement rides, such as
the carousels, is made so that kids in wheelchairs are able to
go on them. The pool even had water
wheelchairs so that the kids could go into the pool.
It was really made so that no kid felt like they were going to
be left out. When, when Paul and I
volunteered there, we, we did the carousel and that was such a
great experience. It was a little scary for us
being left in charge of, of an amusement ride, but we were
really amazed at the, the, you know, the level that they go to,
to make everything so accessible for, for everyone.
And just seeing the families, you know, with, with their
children enjoying that together, that was really a highlight for
us. So you told us a little bit
about, you know, that the train display in some of the other
aspects of the village. Were there any other moments
where you saw Brody experiencing true joy that you just won't
forget? So my absolute favorite memory
of Good Kids the world was just the time that Brody was able to
go and swim at the pool. It seems so small, but at the
time Brody actually had a central line in place where he
had not even been able to kind of splash around in the bathtub.
And just about a couple weeks prior to our trip, he had that
removed. And I don't think I saw his
smile as big as I did while he was running around with splash
pad that they have there and being able to swim in the pool
with his cousin. So you shared that the Brody
passed away a year after your visit.
First, we're so sorry to hear about your loss.
What does it meant to you and your family to be able to return
to the Village in the years since as an alumni?
So just being alumni, it just gives us the opportunity,
especially for my daughter who was only a baby at the time,
just to go back and kind of experience those same places
that her brother had so much joy at.
She's been able to ride horses in the same spot, eat ice cream,
see the villa that we stayed at. And each time that we go, we
actually make it a point to go to the Castle of Miracles to see
Birdies Custom Star that he has there, just as feel that
connection with him. That was that was actually going
to be my next question. So we are.
Going to publish an article that you wrote that just tells a
little bit about your experience.
But one of the things that I really noticed was that you
talked about the Castle of Miracles.
We've had the opportunity to stand inside there and see all
of the stars. But just, yeah, just tell us a
little bit more what what goes through your mind now when you
stand in that space? I just feel completely humbled.
I mean, each star kind of represents a different kid and
family that the Give Kids a World has had an impact on and
been able to give Just kind of a week where those families can
escape from all their medical troubles and just have something
great to kind of look forward to.
Yeah. How has Give Kids The World
continue to be a part of your healing journey?
You and Natalie and Cody, how has it been part of your guys's
journey? So give kids the world's in our
healing journey just because it's just not a place, it's a
place full of memories for us. So I've actually had that
opportunity now to kind of go back and be a volunteer at the
village just to kind of be able to give memories to other
families that are going down there for the week.
So tell us a little bit more about your volunteering
experience there. What is it like being on On the
Other Side as a volunteer at the Village?
So me and my sister actually went down for a full weekend to
be able to volunteer. We did everything from help with
the horseback rides to operating the rides that they have there.
But one of my favorite memories that I'll never forget was
actually picking out custom pillows for Button, who is a
squirrel that plays hide and seek with the kids.
And I'll never forget one of the moms coming up and just being
like, how did you know exactly what pillows my kids would love?
The kid actually ended up giving us little buttons.
That said, thank you for making my wish magical.
So there is just, I think a lot of people don't realize,
especially when it comes to volunteer opportunities, how
many different things there are to do, you know, scooping ice
cream and delivering pizza to horseback riding, you know,
helping with the carousel and the rides.
What would you say to somebody who is considering volunteering
or donating, but they don't quite know the importance or the
impact that they might have? So by donating or volunteering
at the village, you're helping create a week of lasting
memories for these families just to give them that escape from
all those hard stuff that they're facing daily.
You might think that you're just kind of giving time or money,
but what you're really giving them is joy, laughter, and just
a break from all the hard stuff that they face every single day.
Alicia. Tell us a little bit more about
why you believe that supporting Give Kids the World, especially
during a campaign like Give Back November, is so important.
So I really don't think a whole lot of people know that give
kids the world even exist unless you've kind of had that personal
experience. You don't really truly learn
just how amazing less villages and the impact that it has on so
many families lives. I think that's why it's really
important to support causes like Give Back November because it
does help spread awareness. Yeah.
Is there anything else before we go that you would like to share
with families, friends, supporters, anyone listening
today who wants to make a difference?
I say just don't underestimate the difference you can make,
whether it's donating, volunteering, or just helping
spread the word about Give Kids the world because every little
bit truly does matter. You might think that it's
something small, but to these families it can mean the whole
world. Alicia, thank you so much.
It's this is not an easy conversation by any means, but
we're so thankful that you decided to come on the show to
Share your story, to share the importance of this amazing
organization and what it means to family.
So thank you so much for being here.
Thank you for having me and thank you for shedding some
light on Give Kids the World. Again, such a wonderful story
and thankful that Alicia chose to share that with us.
Just to give some more perspective as to how impactful
what everything you guys donate to Give Kids the World does for
that organization and for the people that are impacted by it.
And thank you to you for kind of hosting that that interview.
That was great. Yeah, that was my, that was my
first hosting. So maybe, maybe I'll do some
more in the future. While we've been talking and
just talking about Give Back November, Jeff is not even
looking at the screen right now because he's signing up for the
Gingerbread 5 camera as we speak.
So he is busy doing that. But just to recap real quick
again, this is such a special month for us.
I hope that you've stuck around with us.
And no, it's not our usual content.
It's a little bit more serious of nature, but that is because
of how impactful your donations are to this organization and how
special it is to all of us on this show.
So to recap real quick, Derek, if you want to spin around real
quick again, stand up, do a little dance.
This is our Keys to Kindness T-shirt.
Hey, that was really good. That was that was a great
perfect our Keys to Kindness T-shirt that's available for
sale with all proceeds going to give kids the world head to
keyordervacations.com/kindness throughout the month of
November. Portion of all proceeds from our
key holder brands DVC resale market rental store Menara
Financial be our guest vacations magic vacation title I keep
thinking I forget someone. Feel like you're.
Forgetting. Someone.
Too, But I unlocked magic, that was it.
Is I knew I was. Samsonite.
I got it like one second after you did.
But yeah, a portion of all the proceeds from sales from our
companies will be going back to give kids the world during the
month of November. The one that we're really
excited about is the opportunity for you to head on our Key
Holder Vacations Group cruise with us July 20th through the
24th, 2026. Get your raffle tickets and head
get your raffle tickets at keyholdervacations.com/kindness.
And 1 lucky winner is going to have an amazing vacation and all
of that money is headed to give kids the world.
Donate, volunteer, anything. Anything else I'm forgetting
guys? No, if you're, I don't think if
you've been on the fence, if you've been on the fence about
buying that 50 point contract, that 100 point, that 500 point
contract, do it in November, do it in November.
Have some of that money go towards give kids the world and
it will make you feel a lot better when you get the annual
do bill that comes in January you'll.
Feel. Single do, one do.
Single one do and keys to kindness.
We didn't talk about this, but whoever donates the most gets
the key to Derek's house, so that's pretty cool.
Just. For the weekend.
Yeah, you were there last weekend and you stole one of the
the extra sets, right? I did, yeah.
That was a surprise. Hotel divorce.
Surprise there. We told you we had a surprise
for you on this episode. There you have it.
Well, I just want to thank you all, our incredible community in
advance for everything that you do as part of this campaign.
We know it's going to be better than ever, and we're so excited
to see where you guys take it. But that's going to do it For
this week's episode of the DVC Show.
Head to keyordervacations.com/kindness
and we will see you next Monday.