Disney Kids and Nature Celebration Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund Awards Ceremony was all about protecting the wonder of nature. I want my children to grow up in a world with clean air and living, thriving animals. I don’t want them to have to wear masks to walk outside. The conservation of our world is of utmost importance for the future of my children’s children. We cannot just go on living our lives full of waste and overabundance. We need to instill the love of nature in the hearts of our children. These programs that were honored by the Disney Worldwide Conservation fund are amazing. These kids turned the little actions of one into complete life and environment changing events.
Before we went to the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund Awards Ceremony, we were provided a grand spread a the Animal Kingdom. I thought it was pretty amusing that when you looked around at all of the blogger tables instead of everyone enjoying their meals, you saw what is pictured below instead.
Of course I was doing the exact same thing! However, the lure of the crispy bacon kept tugging at my stomach as the savory smell drifted toward my nose. I snapped pictures of the bloggers uploading to Twitter and Instagram and begin to dine on heavenly meat! Yum! I did not even feel a twinge of guilt when taking a bite out of Mickey’s face.
At the awards ceremony we got to hear from several of the children from the organization being honored. It was really outstanding to learn how even at such a young age, they banned together, created and executed a plan to help save the environment. Later when we were interviewing, Dr. Beth Stevens, the Senior Vice President of Corporate Citizenship Environment & Conservation for the Walt Disney Company, she explained a bit of the application process to even be considered for a grant from Disney which even further impressed me. Dr. Stevens is basically (long title short) the one who makes sure that everything that Disney does the “environment factor” is considered. I think that is a pretty important job for a company as influential and as gargantuan as Walt Disney World.
Every kid who spoke at the podium and even the directors and Bob Iger, had me experiencing “warm fuzzies” I was so proud of these kids! Their parents should be over the moon proud because they all were nothing short of FANTASTIC! It was truly inspiring and made me think what I could do to help my children “carry conservation in their hearts and not in a briefcase.” The culmination of a really heart-warming and touching awards ceremony was the McClain sisters performance of “Rise”.
It was a fantastic morning and it was not even close to lunchtime yet. At this point, I still had the Chimpanzee red carpet premiere to look forward to as well as interviews with Dr. Jane Goodall, the McClain Sisters and the directors Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield.
CHIMPANZEE hits theaters everywhere on April 20th. “Rise,” written and performed by McClain Sisters after being inspired by Disneynature’s feature film CHIMPANZEE, is the latest Disney Friends for Change anthem. With the motivating lyrics “Together we can do anything,” the song captures the central message of the program: When kids and families work together, they can inspire each other and their communities to make a lasting, positive change in the world. “Rise” is the fourth Friends for Change anthem to be released with a benefit back to the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund. This contribution marks nearly $1 million awarded through the music campaign to charities working to protect the planet and conserve nature for future generations.