The premise is this- you sign up through the Hands On Network and then find a local agency looking for volunteers for specific jobs. It could be Habitat for Humanity, a school program, an arts program, Boys and Girls Club, etc. You can search by the type of project you’re looking for as well as your zip code. You select your volunteer choice and you will hear from the organization requesting help within five days with more details about the project. Once you have completed the volunteer day, it is verified by the organization and you will receive an email from Disney with the coupon for the free day at Disney (it takes about 2 weeks from when you actually volunteer to getting the email from Disney).

One person can manage up to eight people’s volunteer projects. So if you are doing this as a family (kids age 6 and up can participate), or as a work group, only one of you has to organize it. Every person who participates in the volunteer project gets a ticket. They are non-transferrable, but if you have no need for it, you can donate it to the Boys and Girls Club through one of the links on the registration site.

You can use the ticket for a one-day pass to Disneyland Resort, Disneyland California Adventure, or one of the theme parks at Walt Disney World (Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Epcot, or Disney’s Hollywood Studios).

You only get one ticket per person no matter how many days you volunteer, and the tickets are limited so once they’re gone, the program will end. There are some timing restrictions (obviously) and the program will end on December 15, 2010 even if there are tickets still available (I doubt there will be).

I think this is a great way for Disney to get people excited about volunteering in their local community. Hopefully, people who try it out for the free ticket will see how much fun it is and continue to help out. And it’s great that those who already volunteer their time can get a tangible reward for it too. Kudos to Disney for this one.