BETHESDA, MD — Employees at Marriott International’s headquarters in Bethesda spent Wednesday giving back to the community by filling toiletry kits for donation to people experiencing homelessness, writing letters of gratitude to active duty and military veterans, and cleaning up local parks.
As part of Marriott International’s Associate Appreciation Week, more than 2,000 employees who work in the company’s Bethesda headquarters and elsewhere in the D.C. area participated in the volunteer efforts.
Apoorva Gandhi, senior vice president of multicultural affairs, social impact and business councils for Marriott International, said the company works closely with Bethesda Cares, a nonprofit group, to help care for people experiencing homelessness in Montgomery County.
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In the lobby of the new Marriott International headquarters in downtown Bethesda, groups of Marriott employees worked throughout the day — “like a conveyor belt” — filling toiletry kits that will be handed out to people experiencing homelessness, Gandhi told Patch.
Other Marriott employees filled knapsacks with games and other items to donate to KindWorks, a Bethesda-based nonprofit organization that provides a broad range of support to people in need in the D.C. area. The summer fun knapsacks will be handed out to area children to give them a chance to enjoy the summer in creative ways, said Gandhi, who oversaw the local volunteer effort for Marriott.
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Marriott also held a canned food drive for Bethesda Help, a nonprofit group that provides food assistance to Montgomery County residents. Employees also wrote cards that will get delivered to active duty military personnel and veterans thanking them for their service as part of Operation Gratitude.
Recordings of Marriott employees reading children’s books will also get sent to parents who have children receiving treatment at Children’s National Hospital in D.C. The virtual story time is designed to help relieve the stress of the parents and provide comfort to children at the hospital.
Groups of employees from Marriott’s headquarters also spent the day cleaning up parks in the Bethesda area.
Members of the company’s human resources department, for example, helped to clean up the Capital Crescent Trail in Bethesda, while four other groups of employees spent Wednesday cleaning up Leland Park, Elm Street Park, Lynnbrook Park and Battery Lane Park.
Marriott International’s Associate Appreciation Week is held worldwide among the company’s 650,000 employees who work at nearly 8,500 properties.
Last September, Marriott International celebrated the opening of its new global headquarters in downtown Bethesda. The lobby of the new headquarters building, including a café, is open to the public.
RELATED: Marriott Celebrates Grand Opening Of New Bethesda Headquarters
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