Marriott Business Council Philippines Stays Firm in Giving Back to Communities Despite Pandemic
Despite the travel and tourism industry being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, giving continues as Marriott Business Council Philippines reportedly donates more than P1M and has rendered 17,096 volunteer hours last year to Save the Children and numerous partner organizations and communities.
Recently, the business council donated P400,000 to support Save the Children Philippines that was raised through the virtual charity run, Run To Give, to help grant access for children to quality education, improve their health, and to protect their rights. Among their fundraising activities last year were a donation drive for the families affected by the Taal eruption from the same community where a total of 200 hygiene kits and 200 back to school bags were donated. During the holiday season, 375 charity hampers were sold and the funds gathered helped provide media noche packages to 110 families from Barangay 201, Pasay City—the foundation’s partner community.
Though the pandemic slowed down hotel operations, Marriott continues to believe that business plays an important role in creating a positive and sustainable impact to the community whether being involved in volunteer programs from hospitality and food & beverage training to organizing donation drives and virtual charity runs.
When the initial impact of COVID-19 left healthcare workers heavily burdened, Marriott hotels in the Philippines came together and provided packed lunches, toiletries, beddings, and other much-needed supplies to numerous hospitals to aid medical frontliners. Donations were delivered to the healthcare workers of San Juan De Dios Hospital, Medical Center Taguig St. Luke’s Medical Center - Global City, Asian Hospital and Medical Center, The Medical City Hospital Iloilo, University of Sto. Tomas Hospital, and University of the Philippines – Philippine General Hospital.
Apart from Save the Children Foundation and front-liners, Marriott Business Council Philippines also extended support to various organizations and other partner communities by providing desktop computers and other distance learning tools to Philippine School for the Deaf, facilitating virtual training for the youth of Pangarap Foundation, hosting a community pantry for families in Barangay 699 in Malate, Manila, reaching out to the Aeta community in Bamban, Tarlac, donating care supplies and meals to the elderlies of Asilo de Molo, Iloilo, volunteering for a reef and coastal cleanup along Angasil Port, Olango Island, and providing immediate assistance to the hard hit communities of Albay during the back-to-back typhoons in late 2020.
“Guided by a people-first culture the business council also initiated the Marriott Disaster Relief Fund,” says Bruce Winton, Chair of Marriott Worldwide Business Council Philippines. “The Marriott Disaster Relief Fund was established to support the
company’s own associates, families and communities during times of calamity and emergency. “While the Business Councils have traditionally reached out to communities around them, 2020 saw our own beloved industry and consequently our front line staff be among those most hard hit economically. We felt it was timely and appropriate that in addition to our Community Outreach that we also take care of our own at this time of real need, and so a portion of our annual fundraising was set aside to assist our most valuable asset, our people at a time of greatest need” added Winton.
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