Volunteering Tops Disney Magic For Maryland Teen

Bel Air MD

02 March, 2021

6:03 AM

Description

You never forget your first time at Disney. Ashlee Brockwell, 16, of Abingdon, is convinced of this. She's visited the world-renowned theme park in Florida with her parents almost every year since she turned seven years old. Riding the rollercoasters, especially the Tower of Terror; seeing the characters; and smelling the baked goods as she walks down Main Street are highlights of her annual trip. But the real magic comes with being able to share time, worry-free, with her family. That's why she said she's "so happy" about her trip later this week to Kissimmee, Fla., to volunteer at Give Kids The World Village (www.gktw.org), an 89-acre, whimsical nonprofit resort that provides critically ill children and their families from around the world with "transformative weeklong wish vacations at no cost," said Cindy Elliott, assistant director of public relations for the Village. Brockwell, a sophomore at Patterson Mill High School, is making the trip with fellow We Cancerve Movement, Inc. advisors Samantha Bowling, an eighth grade student at Patterson Mill Middle School, and Theo Rose and Grace Callwood, both Global Studies International Baccalaureate magnet program students at Edgewood High School, to celebrate the nonprofit's 35th anniversary. The Village is operating at only 15 percent capacity and has implemented a comprehensive COVID-19 safety plan in consultation with infectious disease specialists at Nemours Children's Hospital as well as the safety experts at Walt Disney World. Brockwell and her friends are accustomed to complying with extra health safety protocols; their work involves bringing happiness to homeless, sick and foster children. For this trip, they've enhanced their safety protocols, which include quarantining before the trip, daily temperature logs, negative COVID-19 tests, social distancing and frequent handwashing. They'll also be masked and shielded. "[I'm] excited to help others; surprised and happy that I get to experience this trip. I never thought at 16 I would be doing anything like this," said Brockwell, an honor roll student who aspires to be a special education teacher. "I want to help make the kids' trips awesome. Helping kids is my passion." Brockwell joined We Cancerve's all-youth board of advisors in 2016 and has led a handful of the nonprofit's flagship projects including Scentsational, a toiletries drive, and La Magnifique Boutique's open house. The boutique is based at a Bel Air, Md. foster care group home for teen girls. Callwood, also 16, started We Cancerve in 2012 and soon thereafter named her first all-youth board of advisors. The award-winning nonprofit has reached nearly 23,000 children from Ohio to Africa, providing more than $20,000 in cash grants and more than $300,000 in in-kind donations to organizations that serve homeless, sick and foster children. Almost a year after starting We Cancerve, Callwood spent a week at Give Kids the World as a wish kid. She was diagnosed with stage IV cancer in 2011 at age seven and finished chemotherapy in 2014. Declared cured in 2019 after no relapse, Callwood will return to Give Kids The World by invitation this week to speak at the anniversary celebration. For more information on We Cancerve, visit www.wecancerve.org.