7 Days, 90 Countries, 4,000 Volunteer Projects Unites Hilton Team Members from Around the Globe
Today, Hilton kicked off the sixth annual Global Week of Service where more than 355,000 Team Members around the world will have the opportunity to participate in local projects that make a lasting, positive impact in the communities where they live, work and travel.
“We are a business of people serving people, and our teams around the world are deeply committed to this philosophy. That commitment doesn’t just apply to guests who walk through the doors of our hotels—it’s also about serving in our thousands of communities around the world. That is what true Hilton hospitality is all about,” said Christopher J. Nassetta, President and CEO of Hilton.
Since 2012, Hilton Team Members have completed nearly 15,000 projects worldwide, and contributed more than 804,620 hours of community service. Last year during this time, Team Members across 93 countries completed 4,166 community projects, resulting in 291,620 volunteer hours.
For Global Week of Service, individual hotels, brands and offices around the world have the freedom to identify the biggest needs in their communities and to work with local partners to create volunteer projects. Projects range from creative ways to eliminate food waste, to disaster relief projects, to mentoring young people—all showcasing how a career in hospitality can change lives.
Examples of key projects include:
- “Clean the World” Kits – With the support of Clean the World, Hilton’s soap recycling partner, and Guest Supply, Team Members across 20 Homewood Suites, Home2 and Embassy Suites worked in shifts to pack nearly 7,000 amenity kits. Corporate office Team Members will also work in shifts to assemble more than 2,000 amenity kits. The kits will be donated to local charities to directly fight hygiene-related diseases, which affect 2.5 billion people globally. Year-to-date, we have collected more than 215,000 lbs/97,522 kgs of soap that have been reprocessed into more than 725,000 recycled soap bars and distributed across 118 countries. Learn more about our global soap recycling efforts.
- Capes for Kids – The Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, and Tru brands are partnering with Enchanted Makeovers to donate approximately 30,000 capes from all of their participating hotels around the world. Using pillowcases and bed sheets, hotel Team Members will create and decorate capes for children and donate them to homeless shelters and hospitals. Enchanted Makeovers is a non-profit organisation that creates programmes for women and children in shelters that educate, empower and promote creativity, mindfulness and self-expression.
- Soup Kitchen – Conrad Centennial Singapore is partnering with Willing Hearts Soup Kitchen to help prepare, cook and deliver food packets for those in need around Singapore over the course of three days. This is the second year that the hotel has worked to support the Soup Kitchen.
- Houston Restoration – Team Members from Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton and Curio Collection by Hilton Hotels will restore the MECA Cultural Center that sustained severe damage caused by Hurricane Harvey.
- Food Poverty – The DoubleTree by Hilton and Hilton Hotels & Resorts in Scotland will work to tackle local food poverty and obesity issues by partnering with the local food bank and shelter to conduct a food donation rally, work with food bank volunteers to provide nutrition advice to its members, and work with local youth to educate them on better nutrition.
Global Week of Service is part of Travel with Purpose, Hilton’s corporate responsibility strategy, which launched in 2011 and focuses on creating opportunities, strengthening communities and preserving the environment. This year, Hilton also reached US $1 million/£750 thousand in local impact with its Travel with Purpose Action Grant programme. The programme rewards hotel teams that work with community organisations on projects that align with Travel with Purpose.
Hilton was a global winner of the World Branding Awards 2014-2015, in the Hotels category.
