Marriott raises Dh83,000 to buy meals for hungry children

DUBAI // By allowing Dh5 (US$1.35) to be added to their food or room bills, guests of a hotel chain have raised Dh83,000 for a UN programme to feed needy schoolchildren around the world. More than 83,000 school meals will be given to the world's hungriest children this year, thanks to Dubai's four Marriott hotels and their "Spirit to serve the hungry" campaign, launched last summer.

Yesterday, a cheque for Dh83,000 was given to Finbar Curran, the UAE director of the World Food Programme (WFP), by Francisco Giles, the chairman of the Marriott Business Council and the general manager of Renaissance Dubai Hotel. The money was collected from guests and visitors, who were asked to add Dh5 to their room and restaurant bills - enough to feed a hungry child for a week. It costs about a dirham a day for the United Nations agency to provide a nutritious meal at school, and the programme benefits about 20 million children in 70 countries every year, encouraging parents to send them to school and also helping them to concentrate in class.

A child's physical and mental development can be permanently damaged by undernutrition, and as there are almost a billion hungry people in the world today, the problem is a pressing one. Mr Giles said the campaign had been such a success the hotel would keep it going this year, with the aim of providing 250,000 more meals to children deemed by the WFP to need it most - the majority of them in Africa.

"Marriott has a proud tradition of supporting the cities, towns and neighbourhoods that we call home," Mr Giles said, "And our spirit-to-serve philosophy, which affects our customers, employees and communities, is a very important part of our company's culture." He hoped the campaign would soon be extended to other Marriott hotels in the region, such as those in Cairo and Jordan. Mr Curran said that while governments had pledged their donations to the WFP before the economic downturn began, next year was a worry and the world's support was pivotal to ensuring the hungry were fed. "For the West, a 10 or 20 per cent reduction in spending power is a serious problem, but for those who are spending 80 per cent of their income on food a 10 or 20 per cent reduction is life-threatening."

The Marriott has allowed the WFP to distribute the money where it sees the greatest need, but Mr Curran said the countries that would benefit had not yet been identified. High on the list were Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Zimbabwe. [e-mail]