Give Kids The World Village is a nonprofit resort in Kissimmee, Florida for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. The resort’s focus is providing accommodations and access to donated theme park tickets. Families that visit Give Kids The World must be referred by one of over 250 wish-granting organizations or foundations, such as Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The resort includes 140 villas on 70 acres. Eighty-eight of the villas were refurbished in a renovation as of 2014.
Give Kids the World was founded by Henri Landwirth, born March 7, 1927, a Belgian Holocaust survivor who spent 5 years in the Auschwitz and Matthausen concentration camps. Landwirth immigrated to the United States, where he studied hotel management. While operating a hotel in the Orlando area, he became passionate about helping sick children fulfill their dream of a family vacation. Landwirth took to providing hotel accommodations for families of children with life-threatening illnesses who wanted to visit Walt Disney World and other nearby attractions and theme parks. After a incident in which two sick children had died because hotel rooms were not available in time for them to stay in Orlando, Landwirth had an interest in creating a facility where travel arrangements could be made quickly with no waiting list and which would not turn away any child.
Every year, the Village welcomes more than 7,000 families; in 2010, it welcomed its 7,000th family from across the United States and more than 70 other countries.