Enjoy!
“I believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy with my fellow men and mutual helpfulness, and brings happiness for all.”
The human touch: Cambridge Dictionary defines this term as “a friendly and pleasant way of treating people which makes them feel relaxed”. This quote hangs over my computer at work as part of my alma mater’s creed and as a daily reminder of who I strive to be. I believe in this statement. I also believe that it is our responsibility as hospitality professionals to share our “human touch” with those around us.
When we discuss “the human touch”, we can, of course, discuss our own individual properties and how our employees make guests feel relaxed and welcome. We can also discuss how our employees make each other feel relaxed and welcome as part of the team. However, what we usually don’t discuss is how we can make our communities feel relaxed and welcome; how we can share “the human touch” with those around us every day; those that we don’t necessarily have business transactions with.
At Coakley and Williams, it is part of our mission “to be a role model within our industry and communities”. How better to do this than by actually getting involved in our communities? It is our goal as a corporate office in 2011 to be the role models we speak of. In order to do that, we have lined up a few philanthropic organizations to become a part of…to spread our “human touch”.
The first organization that we will be working with in 2011 is a not-for-profit organization that serves the homeless population of The District of Columbia, called Miriam’s Kitchen. Miriam’s provides free, homemade meals, and high-quality support services to more than 4,000 homeless men and women each year through their core programs including; Meals, Case Management, Miriam’s Studio, and Miriam’s Café. Our team at the corporate office will be partnering with Miriam’s to provide and serve breakfast to their guests on March 31st.
Another great organization we will be partnering with is Habitat for Humanity. On September 15th, we are scheduled for our “team build day” which will consist of assisting in the construction of homes in The Ivy City project within the DC community. Habitat for Humanity is a highly respected international organization. They believe that our neighbors deserve safe, comfortable homes they can afford — and there’s no better way to build our communities than to lend a hand. We are very excited to join the thousands of volunteers throughout the world to help provide assistance in building a home for a family in need.
One of the last organizations we will be participating with in 2011 is Operation Christmas Child. Although not as well-known as Habitat for Humanity, Operation Christmas Child is also an international organization. It is a unique project of Samaritan’s Purse that brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes provided on Christmas morning. It provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple, but hands-on project that has the power to transform children’s lives. This is an opportunity for our office to get involved in our global community, just as we are getting involved in our local community.
It is our goal as a corporate office to set the example for our team members around the country. We can all help our communities in some way; whether it is with a big effort, or a small but kind gesture. Because we believe in “the human touch”, it is our duty and pleasure as a company and a team to share our passion with our community!
-Christin Morgan
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