Amy was a young girl with a wish to see Disney World. Her wish was put into the proper channels, but unfortunately little Amy passed away before her wish could be fulfilled. This inspired a man named Henri Landwirth who swore that no child would ever miss out on their wish again. He created Give Kids The World Village in Florida. GKTW is a 70-acre resort where families can come cost free for one week to have the time of their lives. They have access to the beach, Disney parks, Universal Studioes, Seaworld and numerous other attractions. Give Kids The World is run entirely by volunteers each day, so University of Iowa instructors Bri Swope and Emily Mozena packed up a van of ten students and headed down to Florida for an alternative spring break.
The students included seniors Robin Norwood, Katelyn Behnke, Emily Mulvaney, Sara Ernster, Katie Hester, Katie Micelli, and juniors Sara Peterson, Julia Erickson and Kenzie Hankes, all of whom donated their spring breaks to help out. They spent 20 hours in a car each way to spend four days volunteering at the village. They woke up at 6:00 a.m. for 7:00 a.m. volunteer shifts, where children are served ice cream for breakfast. All in all, they donated 163.5 hours of their time this spring break and raised $500 dollars for Give The Kids the World Village. All had a spectacular time, but Katelyn Behnke recalls a special moment where a mother told her that she felt like Beyoncé due to all the special treatment that they had been receiving at the village.
Besides donating their spring breaks, all the girls are active in Dance Marathon and some spend their time volunteering and working at UIHC and other facilities. They are all a variety of therapeutic recreation or child life majors and greatly enjoy every time they get to help others and implement the things they learn in class.