We stood looking at each other in front of the Operation Gratitude Center in Van Nuys, California, on a misty November morning, not sure of what to expect. If you’re not already familiar with the organization, Operation Gratitude annually sends more than 100,000 care packages filled with snacks, entertainment and hand-made items, plus personal letters of appreciation, to Veterans, First Responders, Wounded Warriors, Care Givers and to individually named U.S. Service Members deployed overseas.
There were about 10 of us, and it was gratifying to see my colleagues and teammates join together to participate in not only my first VoluntEARS project, but the team’s first project, as well. Angel, one of the Operation Gratitude directors, explained that our tasks for the day were to: process items ranging from candy and letters to toothbrushes, sort through products, organize boxes and package hundreds of boxes to send to our troops around the world. Another milestone that kept our VoluntEARS going—Operation Gratitude was close to shipping it’s 1,000,000th package, a significant feat for an organization that’s been around for a little more than 10 years.
Three hours later… I can count this project as one of my favorite offsite events thus far during my tenure at Disney. It made me feel extra special to be a part of a company that gives back to our immediate and global community.
