Travelers Encouraged to Participate in Semi-Annual Fund Raising Program Benefiting the World Childhood Foundation
Beginning today, travelers can help protect children and young women at risk from exploitation all over the world just by checking into a hotel. Guests staying at participating Carlson Hotels Worldwide brand properties in the Americas from April 1 through May 31, 2005, are invited to once again 'Make Room in Your Heart for Kids' by donating $1 per night's stay to benefit the World Childhood Foundation (Childhood) - the hospitality company's charity partner. Participating Carlson hotel brands include Radisson Hotels & Resorts�, Park Plaza� Hotels & Resorts, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson� and Park Inn�. Carlson, a founding sponsor of Childhood, has to date donated $1 million through the Curtis L. Carlson Foundation, plus in-kind services to Childhood. Carlson's affiliation with Childhood builds on its April 2004 announcement that it has become the first North American company to sign a global code of conduct aimed at protecting children against sexual exploitation and trafficking in the travel and tourism industry. Carlson's compliance with the Code of Conduct includes educational outreach to the public, of which the fund raising program begun in fall 2004 is a part. "UNICEF estimates that two million children, many of them girls, are part of the multi-billion dollar commercial sex trade," said Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman and CEO of Carlson Companies. "We need to do what we can to educate people on this growing problem and help put an end to it. By supporting World Childhood Foundation through a small donation of $1 per night, our guests can contribute to a charitable effort that supports over 75 children's aid programs in 14 countries." The Carlson Hotels Worldwide fund raising program runs twice a year in April and May, and in October and November. "We encourage our hotels to build relationships in their communities and the world in which we operate and this program provides a method to achieve that goal," said Jay Witzel, president and chief executive officer of Carlson Hotels Worldwide, who leads Carlson's hotel group. "With hotels stepping forward to participate throughout North America, we will build awareness and momentum for this charitable cause as we reach out and help children around the corner and around the globe. Carlson Hotels Worldwide, its hotels and guests, have donated $58,000 to the World Childhood Foundation since the partnership began in 2004." Founded in 1999 by Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden to serve the world�s most vulnerable children, World Childhood Foundation, headquartered in Stockholm, with offices in New York, Sao Paulo and Munich, has donated over $7 million (USD) to help aid children at risk of exploitation around the world. In the United States, for example, Childhood supports: Teens for Teens in Thailand - initiated by Childhood in response to the Tsunami that hit Southeast Asia, to assist youth in the disaster area The Bridge for Runaway Youth in Minneapolis - serving homeless children and youth at risk for sexual trafficking Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem, New York - rehabilitation and support services for sexually abused children For complete background on all of World Childhood Foundation's current projects, please visit www.childhood-usa.org.
Updated Recently