Hyatt Hotels Award 31 Local Community Nonprofits

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all faiths food bank from hyatt hotels

Helping to spread the spirit of joy and generosity this holiday season, Hyatt Hotels has awarded 31 nonprofits across the globe with Hyatt Community Grants to further their efforts within their local communities. With these grant awards, Hyatt is celebrating a significant milestone: surpassing $2 million in grant funding since the program’s inception in 2008.

Benefiting 123 communities in 38 countries worldwide since inception, Hyatt Community Grants Program works with local hotel employees to support the nonprofits that mean the most to them and their local hotel. Hyatt’s vision for the community grant program continues to thrive through this unique approach to giving back. Taking another step in expanding their community outreach, this is the first year that Hyatt Hotels joined forces with #GivingTuesday.

#GivingTuesday’s 3rd Anniversary

While Hyatt Hotels involves itself with charitable programs throughout the year, this was the first year that Hyatt signed on as an official partner with #GivingTuesday. One of the newest companies partnering with the three-year-old social movement, Hyatt hotels joined in on December 2, 2014 for a global day of giving back around the world.

Following the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the holiday giving season with a global day dedicated to charitable giving. Combining the power of social media and the generosity of people around the world, #GivingTuesday inspires people to take collaborative action to improve their local communities, giving back in better, smarter ways to the charities and causes they celebrate, and to help create a better world.

Hyatt’s #GivingTuesday campaign was “a great example of harnessing the power of a global brand in support of grassroots efforts that create meaningful change on the ground,” said Asha Curran, director of #GivingTuesday. She noted, “#GivingTuesday is celebrated on a large scale around the world and shared broadly through digital media, but the impact of #GivingTuesday is seen in individual communities, where neighbors get together to address and meet the specific needs of the people around them.”

Hyatt Thrive: Hyatt Hotel’s Global CSR Program

Hyatt Community Grants is a key component of Hyatt Thrive, the company’s global corporate social responsibility (CSR) program. Harnessing the power of more than 95,000 Hyatt associates at over 570 hotels around the world, Hyatt Thrive focuses on positive local efforts that create a significant global impact. Hyatt Thrive is designed to help make the communities in which Hyatt operates become places that associates are proud to work, guests want to visit, neighbors want to live, and hotel owners want to invest.

The 31 Hyatt Community Grant recipients for 2014 were chosen based on criteria determined at the ground level of local hotels. The supporting Hyatt hotels made wide use of social media to share their stories of giving back by using the hashtags #GivingTuesday and #HyattThrive. Also, a special microsite has been set up to spotlight the nonprofit recipients, celebrating and spreading the word about their important and impactful work at HyattCommunityGrants.com.

image(Image note and source: Gaurav Niketan Trust, from Hyatt Hotels Community Grant)

Supporting Local Hyatt Communities Through Grants

“The Hyatt Community Grants program builds on Hyatt’s belief that no one better understands a community’s most pressing issues – and their solutions – than those who live and work there,” said Brigitta Witt, Hyatt’s global head of corporate responsibility. She continued, “We are honored to support these 31 grantees and their valuable contributions to their communities while recognizing our hotel colleagues for their longstanding ties with organizations that are really making a difference at the local level.”

The Hyatt Community Grants empower Hyatt hotels to make a difference in their own backyards by recognizing and rewarding the efforts of area nonprofits that Hyatt colleagues work with year round through volunteerism, giving and other forms of community support. Individual hotels are invited to nominate their nonprofit partners to receive a Hyatt Community Grant ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 to help further the organization’s mission throughout the following year.

All participating nonprofits must have a significant local presence and must support one of the four core focus areas of Hyatt Hotel’s signature corporate social responsibility platform, Hyatt Thrive – Environmental Sustainability, Education & Career Readiness, Economic Development & Investment, or Health & Wellness.

image (Image note and source: Clean the World, from Hyatt Hotels Community Grant)

Hyatt Hotels Help Clean the World

Among this year’s Hyatt Community Grant recipients is Clean the World, a nonprofit that collects, recycles, and redistributes soap products discarded by the hospitality industry. Since its founding in 2009, Clean the World has diverted more than 2,500 tons of soap waste from North American landfills, and more than 100 Hyatt properties across the United States are currently enrolled in the program.

“It’s inspiring to see how far we’ve come and how the program has evolved over the years,” Brigitta Witt said. “Year after year, we are impressed by the growing partnerships that our hotels have developed with their local nonprofit organizations. To know that we’ve helped so many organizations that are committed to the success and prosperity of our communities is motivating.”

She added, “I am thrilled that we have reached such a significant milestone of giving more than two million dollars throughout the last seven years of our grant program, and I look forward to continuing this positive momentum in the future to help many more of these well-deserving nonprofit organizations.”

Hyatt Hotels Corp. Portfolio

Funding for the Hyatt Community Grants program is provided through Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago. With 573 properties in 48 countries, and a proud heritage of making guests feel more than welcome, Hyatt Hotels is a leading global hospitality company. Thousands of members of the Hyatt Hotels family strive to make a difference in the lives of the guests they encounter every day by providing authentic hospitality.

The Company’s subsidiaries manage, franchise, license, own and develop hotels, resorts, branded residences and vacation ownership properties under the Hyatt®, Park Hyatt®, Andaz®, Grand Hyatt®, Hyatt Regency®, Hyatt Place®, Hyatt House®, Hyatt Zilara™, Hyatt Ziva™, Hyatt Residences® and Hyatt Residence Club® brand names and have locations on six continents.

image(Image note and source: Camp Twin Lakes, from Hyatt Hotels Community Grant)

(Top image note and source: All Faiths Food Bank, from Hyatt Hotels Community Grant)

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