Today, The Fondation des Hôpitaux, SNCF Voyageurs represented by TGV-Intercités and Disneyland Paris invited hundreds of hospitalized children and teenagers along with their families, i.e., nearly 500 people, to spend an unforgettable and heroic day at Disneyland Paris alongside Brigitte Macron, President of Fondation des Hôpitaux, Didier Deschamps, Ambassador of the 2023 Pièces Jaunes [small change collection] campaign and Anne Barrère, Vice President of Fondation des Hôpitaux.
Disneyland Paris has been a partner of the Pièces Jaunes campaign for 30 years now and reaffirms its commitment to this large-scale solidarity campaign led by Fondation des Hôpitaux by inviting hundreds of young Super Heroes – including hospitalized children and teenagers along with their families – to spend a day filled with fun and emotion in the parks, providing escapism from daily life.
Accompanied by more than 100 Disney VoluntEars, young people enjoyed the 30th anniversary celebration shows and entertainment along with parks’ attractions throughout the day. They notably discovered Avengers Campus where they met their favorite Marvel Heroes alongside Didier Deschamps and Jean-Luc Reichmann, and experienced the Avengers Assemble: Flight Force and Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure attractions. This visit gave them the opportunity to put aside their everyday worries for one day, as they immersed themselves in the magic of Disney Parks.
To support this action, TGV-INTERCITES gave 250 sick children and their loved ones free high-speed train rides to go to the Ile-de-France region and spend a day at Disneyland Paris on January 18th. Thus, the costs of round-trip INOUI, OUIGO and INTERCITES high-speed train tickets were borne by TGV-INTERCITES
“With the Pièces Jaunes campaign and its iconic piggy banks, Fondation des Hôpitaux has been supporting hospitalized children and teenagers along with their families for more than 30 years,” said Anne Barrère, Vice President of Fondation des Hôpitaux. “We warmly thank Natacha Rafalski and her teams for giving us this incredible opportunity to spend magical moments with children from across France. This fun-filled event is an integral part of their healing process!”
“On behalf of Disneyland Paris, I am particularly thrilled to be supporting the Pièces Jaunes campaign in partnership with Fondation des Hôpitauxfor the 30th consecutive year. Creating magical moments for hospitalized children is one of our key priorities throughout the year, and it makes us really happy to see the joy on the faces of all these young people and their families as they come to spend a day offering an escape from daily life within our parks. They all are our Super Heroes,” said Natacha Rafalski, Présidente of Disneyland Paris.
“TGV-INTERCITES teams are proud to be playing a part in this incredible day, which is organized by Fondation des Hôpitaux and Disneyland Paris. We are so happy to be able to make it possible for children and their families to travel to a place where they may put aside their illness for one day,” said Alain Krakovitch, Director of TGV-INTERCITES.
From January 11 to February 4, guests are invited to contribute to the campaign by putting coins into the iconic Pièces Jaunes piggy banks placed throughout the Resort. These donations will be added to those made by Cast Members, as well as coins thrown into the Resort fountains over the past few months, with Disneyland Paris committed to doubling the total amount.
This initiative is one of many actions throughout the year – and for more than 30 years – toward children and families with difficult lives, including the support of Disney VoluntEars, Cast Members who volunteer for philanthropic actions in our parks. Since 1991, more than 40,000 hospitalized children have been visited by Disney Characters and VoluntEars.