Marriott continues to believe that business plays an important role in creating a positive and sustainable impact to the community amid the pandemic
Despite the travel and tourism industry being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, giving back continues as Marriott Business Council Philippines reportedly donates more than PHP 1M and has rendered 17,096 volunteer hours last year to Save the Children and numerous partner organizations and communities.
Recently, the business council donated PHP 400,000 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 was 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.
Chefs of Sheraton Manila preparing healthy food packs for various medical institutions 
Packed meals were prepared by the associates of Courtyard by Marriott Iloilo and donated to the medical frontliners of The Medical City Iloilo Hospital
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 the Save the Children Foundation and frontliners, Marriott Business Council Philippines also extended support to various organizations and other partner communities by providing desktop computers and other distance learning tools to the 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 frontline staff be among those most hard-hit economically. We felt it was timely and appropriate that, in addition to our Community Outreach, 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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