BY RENA LANGLEY, Senior Vice President, Walt Disney World Communications and Public Affairs
The grand opening of TRON Lightcycle / Run presented by Enterprise is just a day away, and we’re excited and ready for new “users” to experience this incredible new attraction. Before that though, we had the chance to celebrate this milestone with the Central Florida community while sharing some exciting news: Disney World will be donating $100,000 to help enhance STEM education in Orange County Public Schools! I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a better place to commemorate this next step in giving back than on the Grid.
“We can always count on Disney to provide for our schools and students in innovative, fun and thoughtful ways,” said Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez. “This generous donation will help our teachers bring STEM to life in the classroom and will help provide our students with experiences they’ll treasure for a lifetime.”
Just like the attraction, the evening was epic – check out some of the memories we made during our adventure together.
Empowering the next generation of diverse storytellers has always been important to us, and this latest donation builds on our long legacy of supporting local schools, students and teachers. This continued commitment is part of Disney Future Storytellers and ensures that our future innovators receive the skills and hands-on experiences they need to dream about their futures, build their talents and become who they imagine they can be – which could one day lead them to a career at Disney.
This was the perfect way to close out the 50th Anniversary celebration which was filled with so much community magic. Over the course of the 18-month celebration, we gave more than $6.5 million in grants to 60+ nonprofits, and Walt Disney World cast personally volunteered more than 233,000 hours at local organizations through our Disney VoluntEARS Program – proud is an understatement.
Looking ahead, we’ll continue to support the people and places around us throughout the next 50 years and beyond, bringing the power of Disney’s stories, characters and immersive experiences directly to our community.
To learn more about other ways we’re supporting our community through initiatives like Affordable Housing, visit DisneyWorldGivesBack.com. And to all the teachers out there, on behalf of everyone here at Walt Disney World Resort, thank you for inspiring us all through your work.