Doubletree helps Feed the World this holiday season

Read more about: awareness, children, community, donations, food, Hotels, humanitarian, kids, nonprofit, schools, students, United Nations, youth

Doubletree Hotels has partnered up with the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP) to combat worldwide hunger with its new “Community Drive to Fight World Hunger” campaign ; working to motivate students to collect food for local food banks in the United States and raise funds for WFP’s hunger relief operations abroad.

The WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization.

“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.

As an integral part of Doubletree’s award-winning “Teaching Kids to CARE” community outreach program, “Community Drive to Fight World Hunger” hopes to raise awareness on key social and environmental issues through educational activities.

Food drive collection activities will take place at participating Doubletree hotels in more than 125 cities worldwide between now and December 18th.

“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,” added Parks. “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.”

‘Teaching Kids to CARE’ this holiday season

The Teaching Kids to Care campaign works to educate students on the impact hunger has on both a local and global level by highlighting the critical importance of food donations during the holiday season.

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.

As part of the campaign, students across the country 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 commits to hunger relief

Taking part in the giving-spirit of the season, Doubletree Hotels has committed to contributing $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.”

For more information or to find out how you can contribute, follow the campaign via Twitter at www.twitter.com/doubletreehtls.

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