Choice Hotels International Inc. is bringing back its ”Your Community, Your Choice. Choice Hotels Local Business Grant Program” to recognize and support hotel owners’ service efforts. Originally launched in 2019, Choice is doubling its contribution and the number of recipients this year by awarding $5,000 grants to the local charity selections of the 10 winning franchisees, for a total of $50,000 in grants, helping them to make a positive impact in their community.
“Our franchisees and their hotel staff are always serving their communities as well as their guests, and over the past year they have truly exemplified the concept of ‘service’ beyond the hotel and into the local community—including everything from making masks for healthcare workers to providing rooms and meals to the most vulnerable,” said Pat Pacious, president/CEO, Choice Hotels. “To commend their unwavering commitment to community, especially amid these unprecedented circumstances, we are honoring them again with the ‘Your Community, Your Choice.’ grant program and doubling the contribution and winners.”
As a champion of local businesses since its founding over 80 years ago, Choice Hotels places its franchisees at the center of everything it does—from helping them along the road to economic recovery during the pandemic, to supporting the initiatives that are most important to them and their businesses. Through the [grant program], Choice will help its hotel owners further their longstanding commitment to caring for the communities outside their hotel doors.
The grant program will reward initiatives that benefit the communities Choice-brand hotels serve, ranging from:
- Supporting those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
- Rebuilding communities affected by natural disasters
- Caring for those less fortunate with food or clothing drives
- Mentoring youth or young professionals
- Promoting sustainability
- Honoring local heroes
- Supporting other local businesses or organizations, such as schools and parks
Choice Hotels’ franchisees can apply for the grant through Sept. 24 at choicehotelsdevelopment.com/our-business-is-you. Winners will be announced Oct. 21.
The grant program is one of the many ways Choice serves the communities where its franchisees and their associates work and live:
- Helping those affected by the pandemic, including ongoing efforts with the American Red Cross, Operation Homefront, International Franchise Association and Serta “Stay Home, Send Beds” Initiative.
- Reducing its carbon footprint and promoting environmentally friendly practices through its Room to be Green program.
- Partnering with Clean the World to recycle discarded soap and shampoo from hotels so that they can be distributed to people in need around the world.
For more on the hotel industry giving back, look for coverage of the Hotel Business Executive Roundtable “Leading the Charge: When Hotels Go Beyond the Boardroom” in the Sept. 15 issue of Hotel Business.
