Every May, our associates around the world take part in our annual Spirit To Serve Our Communities Day. We give them time off to volunteer in their local communities. In the Washington, D.C. area, for the last 20 years, many of our associates have worked with the Capital Area Food Bank to help alleviate hunger locally.
I was really disturbed several years ago when I learned that many, many young children in the Washington area go to bed hungry every night, and I tried to do what I could to help.
Recently, I attended a Blue Jeans Ball, which was a benefit for the Capital Area Food Bank. Usually, dressing down for me is not wearing a tie, so it was a lot of fun to wear my jeans. While the attire was casual, the food was great. Chefs from local restaurants came and set up booths where they gave out samples of their favorite dishes. There was a silent and a live auction. All the proceeds went to support the Capital Area Food Bank.
At the event, Lynn Brantley, the president and CEO of the organization gave me a peach tree from her father's orchard and an award called "The Apple of Our Eye." It was great to receive both an apple and a peach on the same night.
Our company started out as a restaurant business and, as a hospitality company, we still feed hundreds of thousands of people every day. Food has been a big part of my life and my career. It's important we work hard to aid in the fight against hunger. In 2007 alone, the Capital Area Food Bank served 20 million meals around Washington, D.C. They do great work and I'm proud to say we're one of their partners.
I'm Bill Marriott and thanks for helping me keep Marriott on the move.
Just One Way Marriott Associates Fight World Hunger
I think Marriott does very good job! All people shoul be thankful to him.
Posted by: Mark | 05/27/2008 at 07:04 PM
I appreciate the recognition of those that go hungry and efforts to try and alleviate this problem. However, you can make a more significant and lasting difference if you change your policy at your hotels. I recently went to a conference at a Marriott and had wonderful lunches. I was deeply concerned when I found out how much food goes to waste. I learned that the food does not get donated and that the employees can't even take it home. The food that went to waste during the five days I was there could have fed hundreds of families. I understand the liability issues, but a signed waiver could take care of that. Please take this into consideration. Not only would this feed the hungry, but also honor the resources that went into producing the food and reduce the overall waste.
You can make a difference!
Thank you!
Posted by: Dara Lively | 05/18/2008 at 06:13 AM
Dear Mr. Marriott:
I have recently been thinking about hungry families and food shortages also
and I came up with an idea that I would call food awareness day. My thought is that if 2 times a year, every Marriott kitchen put all edible food waste in a bin and weighed it (or them) at the end of each shift, it would really be an eye opening number. I believe it would get our associates really thinking on how to cut back on waste.Just a thought.
Posted by: Brian Martin | 05/15/2008 at 04:51 PM