Giving For Good
September is Giving for Good month for Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn Manila Galleria. Coming together to make a positive change to the communities around us, through volunteering, taking care of the environment or making a difference to health and wellbeing. What's better, for everyone who took part, they willingly shared from their own pockets to fund that good deed into a donation for other worthy causes that supports charity partnerships.
Even during lockdown, we're firm believers that we can still do good things within our organization or the neighboring communities. The energy snowballed and a big thank you was in order to each of our 200 colleagues who took part to do good deeds throughout the month and more. This is True Hospitality.
Each of the Department organized their own initiative; funded by the employees while the Hotel has its own company-initiated endeavors.
Finance Department took notice of the Little Sisters Of The Elderly In San Juan. To feed and fend for the 100 lolas, Finance called on to the other departments and immediately – Sales & Marketing, HR, Security, Front Office, Executive Office did not hesitate to pool resources for food, toiletries, adult diapers, and others.
For the love of environment, the engineering team took out their gardening skills at the 5th floor garden area of the hotel. In order to plant trees, they had to clean up the area, water, fence and plant trees that are also medicinal in nature! This was followed by a clean-up drive along ortigas drive.
HR's Nurse Ton Delgado is a Tai Chi advocate and practitioner. He freely shared his expertise for our colleagues to experience Tai Chi and its benefits –
- Boost the immune system
- Slow the ageing process
- Reduce anxiety, depression, and mood disturbance
- Reduce stress
- Enhance the body's natural healing powers
The hotel complemented the wellness initiative with a Yoga session. There is no health without mental health ! We chose to pause, amidst the chaos in a one-hour class to allow us to breathe, and be reminded to be grateful, to love ourselves and radiate love and peace. It was a hybrid of online and Yoga practice by the Hotel Courtyard. A good start for our colleagues to practice mindfulness and meditation!
RISE Alumna and Rooms Division Managers, Regina Sta. Cruz and Dennise Gallardo chose to raise awareness on building confidence and expressing oneself through #IAMRemarkable. This 90 minutes workshop got its framework from powerhouse partnerships of google and IHG. RISE Alumnus Gibeth Gloria also conducted Coffee Talk on Wellness to the Lean-In Circle as her way to engage female leaders on healthy lifestyle and productive mindset.
To recognize the frontliners – Pasig Blue Boys and the Airport Frontliners, the Hotel rewarded them for a day with a hotel bento meal. This is our way of saying "Thank you, for the work you do !" The Food & Beverage Department took this to a notch, when they pooled their own resources to provide bento meals to another frontliners – the delivery riders! They set up a booth outside the Hotel driveway for hungry delivery riders passing by.
September is Childhood Cancer Month at the Philippine Children's Medical Center. Hotel employees donated blood as their good deed for the children. The hospital is government-owned and controlled by the National Center for Specialized Health Care under the Department of Health. It has a 200-bed capacity tertiary hospital with a mandate to provide pediatric care, offer training programs for medical and allied health care providers, and be a center in clinical research. Also on childcare, Front Office gave cash donation (personal contribution) to Cribs.
Biker enthusiasts from different departments mixed passion and purpose as they gathered 100 food packs from their personal contribution to give away as they bike thru the city. The sight was just heartwarming as the bikers pause to offer food packs to the homeless, the streetchildren and poor people along the way. The small act of kindness would go a long way.
The month was also our way to thank the very hardworking teams in the Housekeeping Department. We let them play, win prizes, and promote camaraderie in an activity packed Olympics Week, that was capped with a nice meal of our specialty pancit canton and buns. Led by Executive Housekeeper, Angie Villarico, the whole leadership team repeatedly say "Thank you !" to our very own frontline heroes !
Finally, we chose HOPE Community Facility in Quezon City as a beneficiary of Hotel Linens and Toiletries. CESU Head of Logistics Cindy Garcia accepted the donation on September 25, with Mr. James Go who showed his full support by joining our photo. HOPE cares for asymptomatic and mild COVID 19 patients in their 200-bed facility in QC, accommodating more children who tested positive for COVID-19 as well as their families or guardian.
About 80% of our total workforce participated, 5 institutions assisted, 300 + food packs distributed, and generous personal contributions of staff, fill the Hotel with so much happiness, love and hope.
The activity also allowed for us to bond, thank one another, and re-affirm all that "Even a small act of kindness can make a profound difference to somebody else," (Misha Collins).
In view of Dwell advocacy, RLC's wellness framework, staff found creative ways to channel physical, mental , emotional and spiritual well-being in the various well-being platforms that were made available throughout the month.
