Inge Huijbrechts with the Ndethye Ngutethye self help group working on a Just A Drop sanddam project sponsored by Radisson Blu

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has shared the results of its 2017 Responsible Business Action Month efforts.

Every September, the hotel group focuses its efforts on the local community.

This year, staff organised over 1,200 activities, dedicated more than 107,000 volunteer hours, and raised a total of 429,000 USD and in-kind donations of 945,000 USD for Carlson Rezidor’s global partners and other local charities.

Inge Huijbrechts, Global Vice President, Responsible Business says, “This time of year is very special for us as an organisation, and while many of our global initiatives happen year-round, September brings all our offices and hotels together to help the communities in which we serve at the same time.

“During September, we make every moment matter by creating a positive impact on local communities through fundraising activities, donations and enthusiastic volunteering by our hotel teams around the globe,” she said.

In Melbourne, The Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens’ team spent a night assisting St. Vincent de Paul Soup Van in providing hot meals, drinks, snacks and companionship.

Other global highlights the launch of Radisson Blu’s pilot Blu Planet Housekeeping, which allows the guest to forego housekeeping services. More than 60 hotels joined the initiative which has already been promoted successfully by the Radisson Blu Hotels in the US for 3 years. For each night a guest opted in, the hotels donated on the guests’ behalf to Just a Drop, funding drinking water projects in Guatemala, Kenya and India.

The Radisson Kandla hotel in India, actively worked towards the countrywide “Bhook Mitao Campaign”, aiming to eradicate hunger permanently and contribute to UN SDG 8. The hotel team served meals to 200 children in need in their vicinity.

Radisson RED in Cape Town gave away free lunches to the sellers of the homeless magazine ‘The Big Issue’ and organised a clothes and tools swapping evening.

Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts across Europe continued to focus on their ‘Save Tomorrow’s Trees Today’ campaign. Hotel teams volunteered with a nature trust in the UK to maintain the 40 trees planted in 2016, which at the time represented the 40 international Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts’ properties in operation around the world.

Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM hotels in the U.S. collected books for children in need in partnership with Read Indeed, a Minnesota-based literacy organisation founded in 2008 by then 8-year-old, Maria Keller.

In response to the devastating series of hurricanes that  hit communities in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean in August and September, Carlson Rezidor teams banded together to raise funds for employees who were affected. Additionally, Club Carlson, our global hotel rewards program, deployed a campaign to our members who helped raise a total of 93,000 USD in donations for the American Red Cross.

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