Page 254 - The New Gold Standard

PRINCIPLE 5: LEA VE A LASTING FOOTPRINT
Collier County. That type of support turns out to be more ef-
fective than scattering our product and service donations more
haphazardly.”
During the preopening phase of a hotel, the Community
Footprints program assists in forging a relationship between the
hotel staff and a local organization whose mission falls into
the three target assistance areas. One such example occurred
during the 2008 opening of The Ritz-Carlton, Denver. Audrey
Strong, director of public relations, shares,“Our employees broke
a two-hour time period record at The Food Bank of the Rock-
ies as they assembled boxes of nonperishable food items for the
Community Supplemental Food Program. That program helps
low-income pregnant or breast-feeding women, new mothers,
children, and the elderly. In the course of those two hours, 1,250
boxes were assembled by Ritz-Carlton volunteers at a pace of 10
boxes per minute. Employees who volunteered that day also made
a cash donation that facilitated the purchase of 236 meals for
Colorado’s needy.”
On the other side of the globe in China, the preopening
team at The Ritz-Carlton, Guangzhou, conducted the hotel’s
first Community Footprints event a full six months before the
hotel was set to open. Guangzhou Social Welfare Institution for
children celebrated Children’s Day with Ritz-Carlton staff and
management present to provide every child a T-shirt, a holiday
gift, and warm personal attention. By encouraging volunteer ac-
tivity, even in a hotel’s preopening phase, leadership sends a mes-
sage to staff that volunteerism is a fundamental aspect of the
company. Sue Stephenson believes this signals that “we’re not
just a hotel with very wealthy guests. We are part of the commu-
nity. Our Ladies and Gentlemen understand that we are very se-
rious about giving back to these local organizations that touch
their lives.”
The hotel’s mission makes it clear that this type of involve-
ment shouldn’t stop once the hotel is up and running. There are
regular procedures in place to ensure continuous contributions

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