WASHINGTON, D.C.—Doubletree Hotels and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the world’s largest humanitarian organization, have teamed up to motivate students to help fight hunger this holiday season through a unique relationship that will collect food for local food banks in the United States and raise funds for WFP’s hunger relief operations abroad.
The “Community Drive to Fight World Hunger” campaign is part of Doubletree’s award-winning Teaching Kids to CARE community outreach program, which raises awareness about key social and environmental issues through educational activities and fosters a sense of activism, empowerment and reward among students. Food drive collection activities will take place at participating Doubletree hotels in more than 125 cities worldwide between now and December 18.
“Doubletree’s Community Drive to Fight World Hunger is educating students on the hunger needs of their neighbors and then extending that awareness to other regions of the world,” said Mary Beth Parks, vice president-brand marketing for Doubletree Hotels. “Our hope is that participants will gain a sense of the scope of the hunger crisis and their role in addressing it through hands-on donation and fundraising efforts. Students will also learn ways to impact this worldwide challenge by making enlightened changes in their own lives, like cutting down on food waste during meals or donating regularly to a local food bank.”
This fall’s Teaching Kids to CARE campaign educates students on the impact hunger has on both a local and global level, highlighting the critical importance of food donations during the holiday season. To serve their communities, students nationwide are filling self-decorated food collection containers and organizing “Great Community Food Collection” drives, encouraging family, friends and fellow citizens to feed their hungry neighbors through non-perishable food donations. All collected non-perishable food items will be presented to a variety of nonprofit community outreach organizations including local food banks, rescue missions, mobile meal delivery programs and more—directly connecting students to the hunger needs present in their own communities.
Doubletree Pledges Amount Per Food Item
To celebrate kids’ local community contributions as well as honor a global perspective to the hunger crisis, Doubletree has pledged to contribute $0.05 for every non-perishable food item donated to Friends of the World Food Program (Friends of WFP), a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that builds support for WFP operations. Funds will be donated exclusively to WFP’s school meals program, which provides meals to more than 20 million of the world’s poorest schoolchildren each year. Research from the WFP has found that supplying meals to students at school significantly increases enrollment, attendance and academic performance—especially for girls. This reinforces Doubletree’s mission of supporting and enhancing educational efforts for youth worldwide and engaging Teachings Kids to CARE participants in actively supporting academic aspirations through the power of community outreach.
“WFP seeks partnerships that, in addition to monetary donations, are committed to creating lasting change and addressing the core of the hunger epidemic worldwide,” said Friends of WFP President and CEO, Karen Sendelback. “Doubletree’s youth-focused program ensures that future generations of leaders are aware of this issue and are able to take proactive steps to help eradicate world hunger.”
Founded in 2002, Teaching Kids to CARE is a community-based outreach initiative that has connected local Doubletree hotels with more than 150,000 students in local elementary schools and youth organizations. Teaching Kids to CARE educates children about the importance of making environmentally and socially conscious decisions for their community and their world at the earliest ages.
Communities and travelers can also do their part by donating non-perishable food items to their local participating Doubletree hotel. Additional information about participating hotels and special events throughout the months of November and December will be posted regularly on the Doubletree Hotels Twitter news feed site, which is available to the public at www.twitter.com/doubletreehtls.
