Disney Prize Patrol surprises Orlando charity with big check

By Kate Santich, Orlando Sentinel

Walt Disney World ambassador Vanessa Rosas (right) and Mickey Mouse arrive at Jones High School to surprise student Corintha Alford with the Disney Dreamers & Doers top prize. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

A big Disney Prize Patrol bus, with Mickey Mouse himself in tow, swings into the Orlando parking lot at BETA Center, the charity that helps teen moms and moms-to-be, and brought a $34,000 check.

A big Disney Prize Patrol bus, with Mickey Mouse himself in tow, swings into the Orlando parking lot at BETA Center, the charity that helps teen moms and moms-to-be.

It’s Thursday morning, not yet 9 a.m., and the visitors are trying to be inconspicuous while they ready themselves — but it’s not easy to hide a bus. Soon, the window blinds of the building are moving as people inside peek out to see what’s going on. Five-year-old Jade Lewis, who lives at BETA with her young mother, is the first to bound out the door and break the silence.

“Mickey!” she yells. Then she starts jumping. “Mickey! Mickey! Mickey!”

But for the grown-ups, the big excitement here isn’t Disney’s signature costumed character. It’s a share of the $1.2 million the giant entertainment corporation is spreading around to nonprofit organizations in five local counties this week: Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake and Polk.

Disney’s gift to BETA — $34,000 – will make “a tremendous impact,” said BETA president and CEO Tammi Dooley. “We have to raise 80 percent of our budget from the community every single year. Without gifts like this, we could not keep our doors open.”

The Prize Patrol has been delivering big checks all week – including $100,000 each for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida and A Gift for Music, which brings classical music lessons to 400 children at low-income elementary schools each year.

The Coalition for the Homeless won $60,000, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Florida received $40,000. Orange and Osceola public schools received $50,000 each.