Marriott “Spirit to Serve Our Communities” Supports Children’s Miracle Network Fundraising Event to Benefit Children’s Hospital of Denver; Hotel Staff Expected to Raise $15,000
Denver, Colorado (PRWEB) November 8, 2009 -- As part of Marriott International’s “Spirit to Serve Our Communities” commitment of corporate social responsibility, the Marriott Denver Tech Center Hotel is sponsoring and hosting the first-ever Denver stop of the Children’s Miracle Network “Miles for Miracles Torch Relay” at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 4.
The 5k fundraising walk/run will start and finish at the Denver Tech Center hotel, with donations supporting Children’s Miracle Network of the Rocky Mountains and Denver’s Children’s Hospital, which is part of the network. Participants, volunteers and event officials will visit with local celebrities and, after the race, enjoy food and refreshments from local sponsors.
Marriott Denver Tech Center Hotel employees participating in the event are expected to raise approximately $15,000. Since 2005, the nationwide torch relay of athletic events has raised more than $5 million. The 2009 relay is stopping in dozens of cities during October and November, and has a fundraising goal of $1.25 million.
“As a nationwide sponsor of Children’s Miracle Network for 26 years, Marriott International has contributed more than $58 million to help 170 affiliated hospitals in the U.S. and Canada,” said Barbara Ready, area general manager of the Denver Marriott Tech Center Hotel. “At the end of the day, it comes down to what’s done locally in the community, and the tech center Marriott is proud to support this latest initiative in our hotel’s history of community service.” Marriott’s “Spirit to Serve Our Communities”
Marriott International’s “Spirit to Serve Our Communities” corporate social responsibility initiative is designed to SERVE five key areas: Shelter and food; Environment; Readiness for hotel careers; Vitality of Children; and Embracing global diversity and inclusion.
In 1983, Marriott became Children’s Miracle Network’s (CMN) first corporate sponsor. Marriott's early sponsorship helped lend credibility to CMN. In 1993, “Marriott Pride” was created to give employees an opportunity to get involved and help raise money for the children in their communities.
Marriott Pride supports the company’s business units, franchise partners and Marriott-branded hotels, Business Councils, and employees in North America to help raise funds for CMN. This initiative calls upon and enables all of these stakeholders to work with their local CMN children's hospitals on grass roots fundraising efforts.
The $15,000 expected to be raised by hotel employees at this event is just the latest chapter in the Denver Marriott Tech Center hotel’s longstanding involvement with CMN and Children’s Hospital of Denver. Recently, the Denver Tech Center hotel employees worked with the Denver Police Department to donate teddy bears to hospital patients. As part of the hotel’s “Ideas are Free” initiative, employees created cookbook comprised of recipes from the hotel’s ethnically diverse staff. Funds generated by cookbook sales totaling $1,640 were donated to Children’s Hospital. Hotel employees annually volunteer to man phones during CMN’s fundraising telethon and the hotel makes a direct financial contribution.
The Denver Marriott Tech Center is the Denver area’s third largest hotel with 11 floors, 628 guest rooms, 13 suites and 20 junior suites. It offers 25 meeting rooms with 45,000 square feet of flexible meeting space in Denver’s Tech Center area and is a recipient of the Environmental Protection Agency’s prestigious Energy Star® award. For more information on the Denver Marriott Tech Center Hotel, please visit: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/dentc-denver-marriott-tech-center/.
Wednesday’s Event
Participants in Wednesday’s “Miles for Miracles Torch Relay” event will mingle with NBA Denver Nuggets veterans Walter Davis and Ervin Johnson before the start. Alice 105.9’s Sam Hill will broadcast live from the site. After the event, participants will enjoy food and refreshments from Lone Star Steakhouse, Garcia’s and Del Frisco’s.
To participate in the walk/run, call (720) 777-1752 or email cmn(at)tchfden(dot)org. More information is available on the Web at www.torch-relay.org or www.cmnrockymountain.org.
About Marriott
Marriott International is a leading lodging company with more than 3,200 lodging properties in 67 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, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club and Grand Residences by Marriott brands as well as Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. The company is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and had approximately 146,000 employees at 2008 year-end. It is recognized by BusinessWeek as one of the 100 best global brands, by FORTUNE® as one of the best companies to work for, and by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as Partner of the Year since 2004. In fiscal year 2008, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of nearly $13 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com. For an interactive online version of Marriott's 2008 Annual Report, which includes a short video message from Chairman and CEO J.W. Marriott, Jr., visit www.marriott.com/investor.
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