VoluntEAR committees have been set up worldwide to provide outreach in local communities around the world. Disney VoluntEARS around the world last year participated in more than 1,000 projects and programs and contributed in excess of 410,000 community service hours, filling 67,000 volunteer opportunities. On any given day, somewhere in the world, a Disney VoluntEAR is at work.

Disney Blanketeers
One of the Disney VoluntEARS programs that falls within the area of compassion is the Disney Blanketeers. The Disney Blanketeers' goal is to provide handmade security blankets to those who need warmth and comfort in their lives. Though the organization was formed only four years ago, it has grown quickly. In 2002, for instance, the Blanketeers donated more than 3,600 hours making blankets. These blankets are delivered to hospitals, nonprofit organizations and individual children around the world. Special blankets are also created for senior citizens and delivered to the elderly and infirm by Disney VoluntEARS.

Ciara O'Shea (far left), one of the first employees to initiate Disney Volunteers efforts in the United Kingdom and just a few of the dedicated Blanketeers from the Hammersmith Office in London

"Back in March 1999, I attended a meeting about Disney VoluntEARS. The idea of helping the community I worked in and around sounded both rewarding and fun. My grandmother taught me how to knit when I was little. It's a great way to simply create something to help someone else. At the moment, we're knitting blankets for a local refuge and even friends and families of Blanketeers are knitting "squares" for us, as every little bit helps."