HMSHost Corp. made more than $1.1M in direct, in-kind and indirect donations during 2009; 157 non-profit and charitable organizations were the recipients.
Local and national causes benefited from support from the company’s food and beverage and retail operations at North American airports and motorway travel plazas; after the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, HMSHost also helped in fundraising for the international disaster relief efforts.
“HMSHost is not only committed to making the traveler’s day better, we are also committed to making a difference in the communities we serve and to our neighbors in need,” says Elie W. Maalouf, president and CEO of HMSHost. “In the midst of a struggling economy, we are privileged to have the traveler’s trust which allows us to maintain a substantial level of giving to so many worthy concerns.”
A longtime supporter of the Children’s Miracle Network, the company raised more than $50,000 for local CMN hospitals in 2009, with most of the money coming from traveler donations to canisters at restaurant and store check-outs.
“We are proud of all the folks at HMSHost for what they do each day to support the efforts of Children’s Miracle Network and our 170 hospitals – to help sick and injured children in their communities,” says Tom Lazour, CMN account director.
Other recipients of charitable giving included the Coaches vs. Cancer, Junior Achievement, Goodwill Industries, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Canada’s Tim Hortons Children’s Foundation and more. In addition, it was the fifth year HMSHost joined forces with Coca-Cola to raise funds for the United Service Organizations, with a contribution of more than $26,000 during peak summer travel months.
For the Haiti relief effort in early 2010, HMSHost locations at airports, travel plazas on motorways and in mall food courts raised about $165,000 for the American Red Cross Haiti efforts via customers contributing to collection containers and adding donations to their purchase at retail points of sale. In addition, HMSHost made a corporate donation to UNICEF for Haiti disaster relief.
“The generous contribution of HMSHost’s customers is critical to the ability of the American Red Cross to provide help and hope for the people of Haiti during their time of need,” says Neal Litvack, chief development officer of the American Red Cross. “We are continuing to provide supplies and disaster management staff to Haiti in the aftermath of this earthquake and are grateful to HMSHost and its customers for their support of our humanitarian mission.”
