As you all have seen on television, our upper Midwest region has been struck by a terrible natural disaster. Huge rains have fallen in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan and Wisconsin. The rivers have been overflowing their banks and the levees are breaking. There's been massive flooding and thousands of people in the region have been evacuated from their homes.
Marriott has a lot of properties in these areas but, fortunately, none were damaged. It was a near miss for our Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, right near Iowa City, but the actions of the associates saved the day.
When word came the Iowa River was going to crest and cause severe flooding, our team got to work right away to prepare the hotel and their community. Our associates were joined by other citizens from the community and local officials, and they built a wall of sandbags three feet high and they kept the water out. There were 250 people who worked to build this barrier - and it worked.
But our associates didn't stop there. Some also helped build sandbag barriers for other buildings within the community. Three of them went on to Iowa City and Cedar Rapids to help with flood preparations as they are members of the Iowa National Guard.
I'm very proud of our associates at the Coralville Marriott, as well as the teams at our other Marriott hotels in the regions affected for being prepared and showing their Spirit To Serve by coming together to help their hotels and communities in this very difficult time.
There are many great stories that have resulted from this natural disaster and they're a testament to the great human spirit.
I'm Bill Marriott and thanks for helping me keep Marriott on the move.
Marriott Employees Respond to the Floods in the Midwest
The culture of helping and serving others was firmly established by Bill Marriott's parents and it is no surprise that Marriott employees the world over serve and aid others to this day. Witness the response to this flooding as well as Katrina and countless others. Marriott is a truly great organization with great employees.
Posted by: Tom Osterman | 06/24/2008 at 04:25 AM
This goes to show how great the human spirit is and how giving we can be. They should all be proud of what they have done.
Posted by: Chip Henson | 06/21/2008 at 10:12 PM