Last week, I told you about our Spirit To Serve Our Communities Day. It's held every May and our associates around the world are given time off from work to volunteer in their communities. They participate in activities that range from building homes with Habitat for Humanity to cleaning up local parks and rivers.
Since fighting hunger is so important to me, I have often volunteered at agencies that serve the hungry and receive food from America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network, an organization our company has supported since 1992.
Hunger is an important issue to me because our roots go back to 1927 when my parents opened an A&W root beer stand in Washington, D.C. When the weather got cold, they put hamburgers, chili and hot tamales on the menu to keep in business. We've been serving food now for over 81 years. Food is very important to all of us.
Usually, I volunteer in the Washington, D.C. area. But this year, I joined our associates in Atlanta, Georgia at the Atlanta Community Food Bank.
Hunger is a problem everywhere, so I wanted to go somewhere new to lend a hand. No one knows for sure the exact number of people around the world who suffer from hunger, but I know it's way, way too many. According to a statistic from the United Nations, about 12.5 percent of the world's population is malnourished. Even in a country as wealthy as the United States, hunger is a terrific problem. The U.S. government says that at least 38 million Americans live in households that experience or are at risk to experience hunger.
These numbers are way too high. That's why I like to work with organizations like the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which does great work in its effort to fight hunger in the Atlanta area. Each week they feed over 42,000 people in their local community.
I had a great time volunteering today. I stood on the line with our associates and we sorted cans, vegetables and other food and packaged them to send out to the churches and distribution points within the community. There are over 800 churches and distribution points in Atlanta where people who are in need can come pick up food.
I'm Bill Marriott and thanks for helping me keep Marriott on the move.
Lending a Hand in the Fight Against Hunger
here are some facts and figures
Food prices have doubled in three years, according to the World Bank,
sparking riots in Egypt and Haiti and in many African nations. Brazil,
Vietnam, India and Egypt have all imposed food export restrictions.
In the Asian, African and Latin American countries, well over 500 million people are living in what the World Bank has called absolute poverty
Every year 15 million children die of hunger
For the price of one missile, a school full of hungry children could eat lunch every day for 5 years
Throughout the 1990's more than 100 million children will die from illness and starvation. Those 100 million deaths could be prevented for the price of ten Stealth bombers, or what the world spends on its military in two days!
The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed one-third is starving- Since you've entered this site at least 200 people have died of starvation. Over 4 million will die this year.
One in twelve people worldwide is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5. United Nations Food and Agriculture
The Indian subcontinent has nearly half the world's hungry people. Africa and the rest of Asia together have approximately 40%, and the remaining hungry people are found in Latin America and other parts of the world. Hunger in Global Economy
Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion - a majority of humanity - live on less than $1 per day, while the world's 358 billionaires have assets exceeding the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 percent of the world's people. UNICEF
3 billion people in the world today struggle to survive on US$2/day.
In 1994 the Urban Institute in Washington DC estimated that one out of 6 elderly people in the U.S. has an inadequate diet.
In the U.S. hunger and race are related. In 1991 46% of African-American children were chronically hungry, and 40% of Latino children were chronically hungry compared to 16% of white children.
The infant mortality rate is closely linked to inadequate nutrition among pregnant women. The U.S. ranks 23rd among industrial nations in infant mortality. African-American infants die at nearly twice the rate of white infants.
One out of every eight children under the age of twelve in the U.S. goes to bed hungry every night.
Half of all children under five years of age in South Asia and one third of those in sub-Saharan Africa are malnourished.
In 1997 alone, the lives of at least 300,000 young children were saved by vitamin A supplementation programmes in developing countries.
Malnutrition is implicated in more than half of all child deaths worldwide - a proportion unmatched by any infectious disease since the Black Death
About 183 million children weigh less than they should for their age
To satisfy the world's sanitation and food requirements would cost only US$13 billion- what the people of the United States and the European Union spend on perfume each year.
The assets of the world's three richest men are more than the combined GNP of all the least developed countries on the planet.
Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger
It is estimated that some 800 million people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition, about 100 times as many as those who actually die from it each year.
Posted by: aditi | 06/10/2008 at 11:22 PM
It is great to see a such a company helping out the small guys. I have recently looked into sponsoring my local food bank and would encourage others to do the same. It only takes a little time to help out so many.
Posted by: Brendon Schenecker | 05/24/2008 at 03:09 PM
I wanted to call to your attention the efforts of Ms. Devon **** and General Manager Charlie ***** at your (downtown) Dallas Courtyard - Upon arrival in Dallas on a recent business trip, I called the hotel whereupon Ms. **** recognized that staying at their downtown location would put me well out of the way of my appointment the following morning. She took my phone number, called another Courtyard Hotel nearly adjacent to my meeting location, cancelled my reservation at her hotel, then provided me with perfect directions to the new hotel. Her care, diligence and follow up was most commendable. Several days later when it became apparent the credit for the reservation had not gone through, Charlie ***** called me (twice) and personally arranged for a credit to my account. You and your staff are to be commended for the care and rigor demonstrated in making sure that your guests are treated well. You may count on my repeat business.
Kahley Malloy, Oakleaf Waste Management, E. Hartford, CT
Posted by: Kahley Malloy | 05/22/2008 at 01:53 AM
I am a long time Marriott stockholder, and I gives me great pleasure to see our employees, including our Chairman doing such a terrific thing such as this. Marriott is a great company and our most precious assets are our employees.
Posted by: George N | 05/22/2008 at 01:28 AM
The impact of your picture touched my heart; been there done that as far as hunger -- and helping out when we could, reaching out to those around you in need is what keeps us awake -- love never fails as we care for one another, top or bottom, caring is real!
Posted by: S. E. Williams | 05/21/2008 at 01:56 PM
This is another reason why Marriott is a great company and has great people.
Posted by: David | 05/21/2008 at 10:19 AM
It is a wonderful thing to see major corporations such as Marriott help fight hunger.
Posted by: Dawn | 05/21/2008 at 01:51 AM