Charity creates magic for theme park magic-makers

HORIZON WEST  In Orlando, theme park and hospitality staff help make magic happen for visiting families and park guests every day.

Now, a new West Orange-based organization seeks to help give some of that magic back to its makers. 

Wishes Needs & Dreams, founded by Horizon West resident Mark Kaley, is a charity that aims to assist low-income theme park and resort employees — Dreammakers, as WND calls them — by providing them with financial assistance to relieve stress and anxiety they may have so they can have a better life. 

“I want people to do the job and have fun doing the job, enjoy doing the job, and be able to take care of things they need to take care of,” he said. “I do believe that when there’s less strife in their (workers’) personal lives, the visitors’ experiences will be better.”

Kaley first came up with the idea after following the “#Tips4Jesus” social media campaign, a movement that set out to help and surprise deserving restaurant servers by having people leave behind exorbitant tips on their checks. 

But Kaley wanted the concept to expand beyond restaurant staff. His passion for theme parks began during his first visit to Walt Disney World Resort in fifth grade. When he and his wife married, they made the move from Long Island, New York, to Orlando and invested in annual passes for all of the theme parks. It was his passion for the parks that spurred the idea of providing a similar service to low-income resort employees.

“They’re only provided with their base wage, which isn’t really a living wage,” he said. “They’re not making enough to survive. (The workers) need to feel like they’re advancing in life, and it’s difficult to do anything when you’re making $10 an hour.”

Although the idea was born last September, the official launch came less than two weeks ago, after Kaley heard of news that theme parks were cutting hours. 

“I see it as a charity with happiness and magic at its core, because if these people are delivering magic and making people happy, I want to do that for them.” — Mark Kaley, Wishes Needs & Dreams founder

The organization runs solely on donations, and 100% of proceeds will go directly toward funding deserving low-income resort employees’ needs, including, but not limited to, utility bills, car payments, rent, education expenses, food and other living expenses. 

“We will contact them and want to make sure its a true need, wish or dream, and if it’s a need we want to be the ones who go to the creditor and make the payment,” Kaley said. 

The ultimate vision, he said, is to raise sufficient funds annually so WND can keep providing financial assistance to the employees who come along.

“There is a high turnover rate (in the parks), and there will always be people who need our help,” Kaley said. “I see it as a charity with happiness and magic at its core, because if these people are delivering magic and making people happy, I want to do that for them.”

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].