Starwood, UNICEF partnership helps 4.5m children

Starwood Hotels & Resorts in collaboration with UNICEF are celebrating 20-year partnership that has helped improve the lives of over 4.5 million children.

Since 1995, Starwood guests and employees have raised nearly $35 million through Check Out for Children, which enables Starwood guests to add $1, £1 or €1 to their bill to support UNICEF’s work for children.

Money raised through the initiative has helped UNICEF protect children from deadly diseases and provide clean water for hard to reach communities in Africa and the Middle East. Funds raised have also helped UNICEF set up schools for children affected by emergencies and provide psychosocial support for vulnerable children.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Sir Roger Moore, helped launch the partnership with Starwood 20 years ago.

“I’m proud to say that I was there at the very beginning of Check Out for Children and even prouder that the partnership is still going strong 20 years later. I have visited UNICEF program around the world and have seen first-hand the incredible difference that is being made to children’s lives,” said Sir Roger Moore.

Over 370 hotels across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia are involved in the Check Out for Children partnership.

“Back in 1995 we teamed up with UNICEF and Sir Roger to launch Check Out for Children at The Park Tower Knightsbridge, formerly Sheraton Park Tower, where I was general manager. Two decades later, the initiative has expanded across our hotels helping to reach millions of children in more than 40 countries. We are extremely grateful to our guests and employees for sharing our passion to do the right thing and raising nearly $35 million for UNICEF’s work for children,” said Michael Wale, President, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Europe, Africa and Middle East.

“Through this partnership, Starwood’s spirit of hospitality and the generosity of its guests have improved the lives of millions of children caught up in crises or weighed down by poverty. We look forward to working together to reach even more children with essential support and services, to help give every child a fair chance in life”, said UNICEF executive director Anthony Lake

The partnership for children has contributed to UNICEF’s work in reaching 460,000 Syrian children with education support between 2012 and 2015, providing with support from partners, access to clean water for 1.8 million people across central and southern Somalia in 2011.

The organization has also established 65 schools in Pakistan to help 10,627 children continue their education, following devastating floods in 2011.

It distributed 20,000 bed nets to remote communities in Ethiopia in 2009 to help protect children from malaria and immunized around 1 million children against deadly diseases.

In addition to Check Out for Children, Starwood and UNICEF launched the Road to Awareness hotel associate fundraising campaign in 2007. This year, Starwood associates aim to raise $1 million in aid of UNICEF’s work for children.