Star quality

For Pen Zhenlian, a six-grader and some 200 of her schoolmates in the mountainous Guangcai School on Hainan Island, it's their first experience in front of a computer.

"I know I can learn a lot with computers," said Pen, whose parents are both farmers.

Pen Zhenlian (front), a six-grader at Guangcai School on Hainan Island, works on a computer for the first time, after Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa helped set up a computer room in the school.

The simple computer room set up in the school on February 28 is equipped with six computers and basic audio-visual facilities donated by the Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa, with money raised from its beach concerts.

While this first Hilton Worldwide Resort facility in China is a posh, man-made paradise in sandy Yalong Bay, its staff feels deeply attached to underprivileged children. Staff members visit the school several times a year, bringing them school supplies, stationery and books and treat the children to a special meal.

"We believe it is Hilton's social responsibility to lend assistance to children from Hainan Island who face financial difficulties to continue their education. It's just appropriate to give something back to the community," Dirk De Cuyper, general manager of Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa, says a few days before assuming a new job at a Shanghai hotel.

Jean Pierre Mainardi, De Cuyper's replacement, says the hotel will continue to do its part for the community with the next charity beach concert on March 22 featuring Singaporean pop star Shaun and his band.

"Many of the charitable activities that our hotels undertake, whether in Shanghai, Chongqing or Hefei, involve extending the spirit of hospitality and kindness to children and people from underprivileged backgrounds," says Faith Thoms, Asia-Pacific Public Relations Director of Hilton Hotels.

"Our goal is to engage in sustainable activities that touch the lives of their beneficiaries for the long term," says Thoms, adding that the commitment is strongly supported by all its hotels and staffs.

In Shanghai, the Hilton hotel has held its Christmas train program for nine years to raise money for children's education as well for children with eye diseases. Hilton Hefei, in Anhui province, has joined the local government's "Hope Project" to fund education for poor children.

The Hilton hotels are certainly not the only international hotels doing good deeds.

On February 26, nine Marriott hotels in Shanghai and Suzhou raised 145,338 yuan from their staff and donated it to the Operation Smile, an international organization that provides free surgery to children with cleft lip and palate.

Siamak Djalali, general manager of Renaissance Yuyuan Hotel, one of the nine hotels, says he was glad that Marriott hotels are able to meet the children's needs in a modest way.

In addition to the money, a dozen Marriott staff members have worked as volunteers for Operation Smile, some as interpreters for doctors from overseas.

With the money, children with cleft lips or palates can be cured after a 45-minute surgery, says Alice Chiu, vice chairman of Operation Smile.

A Marriott spokesman said this effort is part of Marriott's "Spirit to Serve" campaign - a community program that reflects the desire of its associates to give their resources, time and energy to help make a difference in the lives of others.

Underprivileged children continue to be the main focus of other hotels' charity work as well.

The Grand Hyatt Beijing is working with Make a Wish foundation to grant wishes to two children wanting to watch their favorite events during the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

Last year, Hyatt Regency Hangzhou raised almost 1 million yuan to help rebuild a school in Chun'an, Zhejiang Province.

Edward Tai, area vice president of Hyatt hotels, says the group president once said that there are three primary responsibilities for Hyatt hotels - to respect the local culture, to develop local talents and to contribute to the local community.

More Hyatt hotels are expected to join the charity work as the group plans to open a number of properties in major Chinese cities in the coming years, including the soon-to-open Park Hyatt Shanghai in the 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center.

Many other hotels in China have participated in well-known international charity campaigns.

The Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which operates 41 hotels and resorts in China and has another 50 hotel projects under construction, has raised over $1 million in the country since 1998 for its Unicef Check Out for Children fundraising program.

Under the program, guests at participating hotels are encouraged to add $1 to their bill when they check out and the money is used to help immunize the world's most disease vulnerable children.

"Caring for our community is very much in line with what our Starwood Asia Pacific organization culture - Starwood Cares - is all about," says Qian Jin, senior vice-president of operations of Starwood in China.

Besides the worldwide campaign, Starwood hotels have also adopted an impoverished village in Sanya and helped flood victims in Changsha, Hunan Province.

The InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the largest hotel companies in the world, is also planning something big.

Owning brands such as InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, IHG has planned to start a long-term partnership with the Hope Project this year to help build schools in impoverished areas of rural China.

"As one of the world's leading hotel companies, IHG has a responsibility to respect and support the communities in which we operate. Since we first arrived in China 24 years ago, promoting charitable initiatives to support the underprivileged has been one of our top priorities," says Edmond Ip, chief operating officer of IHG Greater China.

(China Daily 03/17/2008 page8)