Over 200 employees from Redmond-based manufacturer Genie Industries donned their baseball caps, sunscreen and team T-shirts that sunny April afternoon in Central Florida. That day was about getting out from behind a desk and away from sales calls, to giving back to the community; whether that meant washing windows, picking up trash, building a deck, polishing a carousel or even unclogging a moat.

The Genie sales and marketing team volunteered at Give Kids The World (GKTW) Village, a 70-acre, non-profit resort where children with life-threatening illnesses have one wish: to experience the area's best-loved attractions. In addition to accommodations for the families' stay, GKTW also arranges for attraction tickets and meals to be provided for a completely cost-free vacation. At the resort, the kids have a chance to eat giant banana splits for breakfast, get tucked into bed by a six-foot bunny, "Mayor Clayton," and just get to be kids. Since its inception in 1989, GKTW has welcomed nearly 80,000 families from all 50 states and over 50 countries.

There are many unique structures at the resort including a Gingerbread House which provides both breakfast and dinner, an Ice Cream Palace which was designed by a child to look like an ice cream sundae, a cloud-covered House of Hearts Chapel, and the Castle of Miracles.

Inside the Castle, each child receives a star for the "Star Fairy" to place on the Castle's ceiling that evening - an area overwhelmed with the small stars. The management actually uses a Genie product, a Genie AWP, at night to lift the "Star Fairy" into the air to perfectly position each star. All together, more than 75,000 stars cover the ceiling of this small building. Parents return years later to find their particular child's star.

The group dispersed into smaller units to help around the park. Tasks included scrubbing the Gingerbread House, polishing the Castle's carousel, and draining and cleaning the moat for the very first time. The teams also spent time sprucing up the villas, cleaning the streets and building a brand new deck.