Caroline Schumacher became president and CEO of Give Kids the World Inc. in June. But she’s both the newbie and the veteran at the Kissimmee-based nonprofit.
Her experience began with a volunteer shift while participating in the Disney College Program. After graduation in Ohio, she returned to Florida, eventually answering a newspaper ad that led her to a position that coordinated the volunteers for Give Kids the World.
After nearly 20 years, Schumacher became president and CEO of Orlando-based Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. Six years later she returned to lead Give Kids the World, the 89-acre resort that hosts children with critical illnesses and their families free of charge. The nonprofit turns 40 next year.
Hotel owner and philanthropist Henri Landwirth helped found both Give Kids the World and the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. He died in 2018. Schumacher is the successor to Pamela Landwirth, former wife of Henri Landwirth, who left the organization in January after three decades.
Schumacher sat in the village’s Towne Hall with the Orlando Sentinel and talked about the organization’s past and future.
Schumacher on growth of the village
When I started, we were just getting ready to open what we called the World of Wonders Expansion in 2000, and that would essentially double the village in size — by capacity — with villas, but also bring all these entertainment areas. … And what that also meant was we were doubling our volunteer organization as well, and our program exploded. And it was really fun to be a part of that.
On her college program stint before Disney’s Animal Kingdom debuted
So I got down here in February, so we weren’t open yet. We were doing cast previews, so it was really awesome to see “Festival of the Lion King” in dress rehearsals. … I was in Africa attractions, which meant we were kind of the cool kids, but you’re really the cool kid if you’re on the [Kilimanjaro] Safaris. I was Wildlife Express.
On future plans
We don’t really see growth in the number of families in a large manner. … What I think we really want to focus on right now is long-term sustainability. … We want to make sure that it’s formidable, that we are so strong that we can weather these storms that come, you know, like a pandemic-type event. We want to make sure that we’re in good position for that in all aspects, not just financially but in a well-rounded manner as well operationally.
We serve, regularly, between 7,000 and 8,000 families [annually] from all across the United States. … There was a lot of growth over the years to get to the capacity that we have now. And we are, I would say, clearly in a place where we know we don’t need to grow in capacity. We’re good with capacity.
Caroline Schumacher hugs volunteer Ze Wyatt at the village campus in Kissimmee during a Monday morning shift. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
On the village’s emphasis
We’re really just focused on, obviously, our guests. and making sure that we maintain that exceptional guest experience that we’ve always done so well … and that we never short it and really pouring into our staff and making sure they remember that they’re empowered to create that experience.
On change
The beautiful part about the village is so much has evolved over the years that we’re in constant change. You know, we might do these activities for a family one year, and then five years later, it changes to this.
On lessons learned while away
I would say we do a really good job with our corporate partners here. … We just do a really good job of working with them and keeping them. … But one of the things we did really, really well at the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation was working with our individual donors, and I learned a lot about how important it is to really have the strong relationships and personal connections with those people who so generously give up their treasure to you.
On the volunteers
When I started in ‘99 I would have to say we had mostly retired, 55-plus senior community volunteering and some after-work crowd and some young people. But it definitely has diversified a great deal over the years. We fill 1,200 to 1,400 shifts a week with volunteers. It’s amazing, from greeting at the airport to working our horse rides, to our Wonder Lab, to our attractions, to our food and beverage. Scooping ice cream is a very competitive shift. Everybody wants to scoop ice cream.
On her village happy place
I love to take walks around the village and just stroll. … I love if I hear families’ laughter. I would say the avenue in general, that’s what we call the paved area, Avenue of Angels. Walking the avenue is probably one of my favorite things to do. It’s a really good thing to do when you need to get your mind right for a minute.
It’s something about going down that avenue, getting up onto Amberville on the porch. That’s kind of my little destination. I like to take the random ride on the carousel. That’s always fun.
Caroline Schumacher poses on the iconic carousel, a central part of Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
On another village?
There have been times when we’ve had organizations approach us from other countries: Japan, somebody just brought up Abu Dhabi to me the other day, Hawaii. California is kind of the obvious one. Europe. …
What’s beautiful about here is we started because kids want to come to Central Florida, that is the core, the heart of the wish. And they want to come to Walt Disney World. They want to go to Universal. They want to visit all the major theme parks. They maybe want to go over to Kennedy Space Center. Maybe they want to go to Legoland Florida, SeaWorld, all the amazing attractions in our area. We were built to house those families during their stay.
And it grew into not just a shelter and accommodations and food and beverage experience. We create this absolute escape for them that’s into this magical world that exists only for them.
We’ll never not listen to the [expansion] ideas and if it would ever make sense, and we’re in a position where that should go that direction. … But what I would say right now and for the foreseeable future, we want to be really proud and strong, and, you know, best in class here in Central Florida.
