Making dreams come true isn't easy, but Give Kids The World willingly and eagerly accepts the task

A young boy named Vladimir from Queens in New York City has just caught his first fish ever in the small pond at Give Kids The World (GKTW) village in Kissimmee, Florida. He's all smiles as Pam Landwirth, president of GKTW, who has been watching from the shore, offers a hearty congratulations. "How big was the fish?" she asks. The youngster holds out his hands and modestly answers that "it was little," and he had to throw it back.

"You gotta learn to tell a fish story," Pam advises. "You gotta say it was this big," she says, stretching out her arms to hug him, "and you gotta say it got away from you at the very end because it was so big."

Vladimir tells her sadly that today is his last day at the village before returning to New York. This news prompts another hug from Pam (hugs are her specialty) as she asks him to name his favorite thing about GKTW Vladimir looks around for a moment as if taking inventory of all the village has to offer. Then he tells her, "Everything."

Everything is just what Give Kids The World founder Henri Landwirth (Pain's ex-husband) had in mind when he planned his village in Central Florida where children with terminal illnesses and their families can have their dreams come true. Henri's brainchild was born 13 years ago after he was unable to help a sick youngster realize his dream of a trip to Walt Disney World.

At the time, Henri owned hotels in the area and regularly offered free lodging to families that wish-granting organizations sent to Orlando. But when a child died before seeing Mickey Mouse because of a delay in the planning process, Henri pledged that "no child would be turned down" and immediately began work on what has become a magical and wonderful haven.

"Two out of three terminally ill children want as their wish to see Mickey Mouse, and that's the wish we do," Pam says. "All the wish-granting organizations have to do is make two phone calls. They call the airlines because they're in charge of transportation to Florida, and they call us. We take care of everything else."

"Everything else" includes meals; accommodations; a rental car for the week; tickets for the entire family to Disney World, Universal Studios, Sea World, and other area attractions; use of a video camera to record those magic moments. The list goes on-everything to make the six days the family spends in Orlando as worry-free as possible.

"Eighty percent of these families have never traveled outside their own communities before," Pam says, "and probably just as many will never travel together as a family. It's overwhelming."

But once they set foot on the grounds of GKTW, "overwhelmed" becomes an understatement for the family's reaction to the carefully crafted paradise. "We want them to feel like it's a vacation, that they're not on some kind of a group tour," Pam says.

After they settle into a fully equipped, two-bedroom, two-bath villa (the village currently has 96 villas that accommodate 7,000 families a year from all 50 states and 45 countries), they might head down to the Gingerbread House, the village restaurant. If it's Thursday, the children can expect to have turkey and dressing for supper and a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus. "On Thursday evenings, we do Christmas," Pam explains. "We have a traditional Christmas dinner, and we sing carols because many of these children won't have that opportunity again."

On warm Orlando nights, everyone cools off with icecream cones and make-your-own sundaes at the Ice Cream Palace, built to resemble a colossal banana split with all the toppings. It's these little things that make GKTW so special: the personalized nameplate in front of every villa, the Tuesday morning pony rides, the nightly tuck-ins by Mayor Clayton, the village mascot.

Wednesday evenings are parents' night out. "You'd be surprised at the number of times parents come back and say 'We haven't been alone in so long' because, of course, eating out is a major expense and then having to find a babysitter," Pam says. "They just appreciate the fact that they're able to spend some time together. The things we take for granted-it's just incredible."

Of all the adventures to be had in Orlando, Pam says, many families are content to spend their time at the village. One reason is its main attraction, the Castle of Miracles, a playroom/arcade/puppet theater just the right size for little hands, inquisitive minds, and vivid imaginations. While younger kids play, older kids can catch a movie at the Screen Dreams Movie Theater. Pam says it's important that GKTW offers something special for every member of the family.

"When a child is terminally ill, that impacts the entire family, not just the wish child;' Pam says. "You have to think the siblings are going to be suffering. Maybe not physically, but certainly they don't get the vacation; they don't get the big Christmases; they don't get all of the things other families enjoy.

"It's a good experience to see that not everyone in life is as fortunate as others," Pam says, echoing a sentiment shared by GKTWs staff of 75 and more than 1,800 volunteers, who include church groups, corporate bosses, teenagers, college students, as well as Pam's own two daughters.

Nancy Knutowski, who has managed the Gingerbread House since 1991, says the families who come to GKTW help her put her own life into perspective. "Parents will tell us that their child hasn't eaten in two months, but she eats here. I know I make good food;' she jokes, "but it's not that good. It's the magic of this place."

Pain admits that there is a sort of magic surrounding GKTW and there are countless testimonies from families to prove it. "People tell us what it means to be here and there's a different story for every family.

"There was a mom and a dad with a little boy age 7 and a little boy age 5 from Minnesota," she recalls. "The 7-year-old had already had five heart operations. The dad was talking to me and telling me what this meant to him, and he said, 'My son, when I told him we were going on a vacation, hadn't a clue what the word "vacation" meant, and he just looked at me. And when we started packing, we literally had to carry him kicking and screaming to the car because he thought it was another trick to get him to go to another operation. When we flew to Orlando and then drove through the gates here, it finally hit him what we meant by vacation. It was the best feeling I've ever had in my life-to be able to look at my son and realize I could finally take him somewhere there wasn't any pain.'"

For more information write to Give Kids The World, 210 South Bass Road, Kissimmee, FL, 34746; or call (407) 396-1114. Web site: www.gktw.org.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Dec 1999
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