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Jane Heimerdinger, President of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Aloha Chapter, Ed Hubennette, Vice President, Marriott International, North Asia, Hawaii and South Pacific, and Travis Gray, Chair National Philanthropy Day AFT, Aloha Chapter Event. |
HONOLULU, Hawaii – December 11, 2008 – For its commitment to serving the communities and people of Hawaii with its “Spirit to Serve” program, Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) has been named the recipient of the Outstanding Corporation award given by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) – Aloha Chapter for its Annual National Philanthropy Day.
“We are honored the AFP – Aloha Chapter recognized the hard work and dedication of our associates and resorts,” said Ed Hubennette, vice president, Marriott International, North Asia, Hawaii and South Pacific. “As a company, we are fortunate to be able to continue to give back to the communities in which we work, live and play with both valuable donations of time and money.”
Comprised of eleven resort hotels and timeshare properties, Marriott International’s Hawaii portfolio gave more than $1.5 million in monetary donations and in-kind services to numerous non-profit and community organizations. Many of the company’s 4,000 Hawaii associates generously gave their “sweat equity,” resulting in an estimated total of 8,000 volunteer hours.
Submitting the nomination on behalf of Marriott Hawaii was Coralie Chun Matayoshi, CEO of American Red Cross, Hawaii State Chapter. The humanitarian, non-profit organization was the recipient of $60,000 from Marriott in Hawaii to support relief efforts to disaster victims.
“We are truly grateful for Marriott’s support in helping the Hawaii Red Cross fulfill our mission of preventing and alleviating human suffering,” said Matayoshi. “Marriott’s generosity will save lives and give hope to hundreds of local families who are victims of disaster, enable us to teach lifesaving skills to 36,000 people a year, and provide emergency communications for our military families in times of crisis. We cannot thank Marriott enough for their wonderful contribution to the cause of humanity.”
A panel of community leaders judged the nominees based on the financial support, impact, inkind contributions, encouragement and motivation of employees, and creativity and innovation of the approaches. Other categories were Outstanding Philanthropist, Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser, Outstanding Professional Fundraiser, and Outstanding Small Business.
Marriott Resorts Hawaii’s “Spirit to Serve” initiatives were also recognized last month by Pacific Business News’ 2008 Business Leadership Hawaii awards. The weekly Hawaii newspaper honored Marriott Resorts Hawaii as a finalist for its Community Spirit award.
Since its humble beginnings on Maui in 1981, Marriott has expanded to 11 resorts spanning the three hotel brands, Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, and Marriott; and two vacation ownership brands, Marriott Vacation Club International and The Ritz-Carlton Club.
Giving back to Hawaii’s communities is a Marriott trademark that’s accomplished through Marriott’s Spirit to Serve program. Although Marriott supports a wide variety of community initiatives and organizations, the program focuses the company’s knowledge, experience and resources into five main areas:
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MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) is a leading lodging company with more than 3,100 lodging properties in the United States and 66 other countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club, Horizons by Marriott Vacation Club, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Grand Residences by Marriott brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. The company is headquartered in Bethesda, Md., and had approximately 151,000 employees at 2007 year-end. It is ranked as the lodging industry’s most admired company and one of the best companies to work for by FORTUNE®, and has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the 2007 Sustained Excellence Award and Partner of the Year since 2004. In fiscal year 2007, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of $13 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com.
Editor’s Note: JPG images of all resorts are available upon request.
For More Information, Contact:
Bernie Caalim, Jeanne Datz Rice
Noreen Kam or Erin Kinoshita
McNeil Wilson Communications, Inc.
Phone: (808) 531-0244
Fax: (808) 521-7163
E-mail: bernie.caalim@mwc-anthology.com,
jeanne.datz.rice@mwc-anthology.com,
noreen.kam@mwc-anthology.com or
erin.kinoshita@mwc-anthology.com