BETHESDA, Md., May 20, 2009 - Today, Marriott International, Inc.
(NYSE:MAR) honored eight employees with its J. Willard Marriott Award of
Excellence. These individuals were selected from the 300,000 employees
at its managed and franchised properties worldwide. Established in 1987
in honor of the company's founder, the Award of Excellence is presented
to Marriott employees nominated by their supervisors or peers for their
outstanding performance and for demonstrating over a period of time the
five key traits inscribed on the award medallion: achievement, character,
dedication, effort and perseverance.
Marriott also announced the recipients of its prestigious Alice S. Marriott
Award for Community Service, and the J.W. Marriott, Jr., Diversity Excellence
Award.
For the Award of Excellence, Marriott's senior management selected the
following honorees:
Gary Baldwin
Lead Storeroom Clerk
Denver Marriott City Center
Denver, Colo.
Stephen Chu
Banquet Captain
The Stanford Court, A Renaissance Hotel
San Francisco, Calif.
Shane Jefferson Dowling
Chief Engineer
Fairfield Inn & Suites Brunswick
Brunswick, Ga.
Cynthia Wheat Huddleston
Director of Services
Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina
Tampa, Fla. |
Jim Kelly
Regional Director of Loss Prevention
Western Region
Enterprise Loss Prevention
Lakewood, Calif.
Sharen Lee
Credit Manager
The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore
Singapore
Anetude Michaud
Housekeeping Supervisor
Marriott's Harbour Lake
Orlando, Fla.
Reynaldo Rey
Front Office Manager
San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Learn more about each honoree on Marriott's Our
Stories web site.
The Alice S. Marriott Award for Community Service is presented to a
Marriott business unit and its team of employees in recognition of excellence
in corporate citizenship. This prestigious award recognizes the desire
of Marriott and its associates to carry on the commitment of the company's
founders by giving our energy, time and resources to help improve the lives
of others. This year's recipient was the Kauai Marriott Resort &
Beach Club, Lihue-Kauai, Hawaii.
Recipient of the 2009 Alice S. Marriott
Award
for Community Service
Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club
Lihue - Kauai, Hawaii
One Philosophy: To Protect and To Care
Visitors to Hawaii expect clear skies, blue water and magnificent views.
Visitors to the Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club can expect all that
and much more.
�This is a special place with special people,� says General Manager
Elliot Mills. �There�s something unique about Kauai, especially when it
comes to giving.�
The resort team takes great pride in their ability to give their guests
a magical island experience. The same generosity and enthusiasm goes toward
serving their community.
Associates volunteer for a wide range of projects. As part of the Adopt-A-Highway
program, they regularly clean up litter on a stretch of Kapule Highway.
They have assumed day-to-day responsibility for maintaining nearby Nawiliwili
Park, Kalapaki Bay and the beaches that adjoin the resort, and other public
areas. They recently teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to build a home
for a local family, then provided furniture and other items to make the
house a home.
For last year�s annual Holiday Food Drive, the team set a goal to collect
4,000 pounds of food. They collected nearly 5,000 pounds, and set the bar
even higher for this year�s drive.
To help the island community�s young people prepare for careers, hotel
managers participate in a variety of programs, including job shadow days,
career fairs and a scholarship program for students training for jobs in
the travel industry.
The resort is also a big supporter of the Annual Visitor Industry Charity
Walk. Everyone joins in, including guests and owners. Together with other
Marriott and Ritz Carlton properties on the island, the resort raised over
$35,000 in 2008 to benefit local charities like Special Olympics and the
Kauai Habitat for Humanity.
The resort provides transitional employment and training for mentally
challenged adults through a partnership with Friendship House. They support
Children�s Miracle Network through a number of fund-raising activities,
including their annual Ducky Derby, where guests buy souvenir rubber ducks
and participate in a race in the pool.
But it�s not all fun and games. The Kauai Marriott Resort is the second
largest private employer on the island, and the team takes its role in
making Kauai a better place to live and work very seriously. Every year,
each department establishes a goal related to charity efforts. Hotel managers
are members of key corporate and civic boards across the island of Kauai,
working to represent the best interests of their associates and the community.
Says Bill Countryman, the hotel�s general manager from 2006 to 2008,
�The team�s philosophy can be summed up in one word: malama. It means to
protect and to care for. It�s what we do best.�
Elliot Mills agrees. �It�s a very important part of Hawaii�s culture,
taking care of each other like family. That feeling transcends all of our
activities � at the hotel and in the community.� |
The J.W. Marriott, Jr., Diversity Excellence Award was established to
recognize a business unit or individual that demonstrates excellence in
promoting diversity and building an environment of inclusion of all. It
is the highest form of recognition for diversity and inclusion efforts.
This year's recipient was the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown and Hotel
Manager Shonda Johnson, Philadelphia, Pa.
The awards were presented at a special gala at the Bethesda North Marriott
Hotel & Conference Center in Bethesda, Md. The gala, broadcast live
to Marriott locations around the world, was viewed by more than 2,000 employees,
family members and business partners. |