MCLEAN, Va.—Homewood Suites by Hilton has launched Make a Moment, a program dedicated to help U.S. military families recreate important missed moments. The extended-stay hotel brand is making an initial $100,000 donation for this initiative, which will continue into 2015.
In partnership with the United Service Organizations (USO), Homewood Suites will build Make a Moment boxes that will be delivered to select USO centers, starting with 10 locations before the end of the year. Each box will include all the essential touches needed to host a special event for the families served by the centers. In addition, Homewood Suites will make a $1,000 donation to help make every celebration even more memorable.
Starting with the upcoming holiday season, the packages will be themed around some of the most missed occasions by military families. Throughout the year, Homewood Suites will feature Make a Moment content on its Welcome Home Headquarters community on the brand’s Facebook page, and will drive the conversation using the #MakeaMoment hashtag as well as encourage donations to the USO.
“Military families make tremendous sacrifices, and this partnership with the USO offers Homewood Suites the opportunity to not only help these families re-create the moments missed, but also say thank you for everything they do,” said Christian Kuhn, vice president of marketing, Homewood Suites by Hilton. “Every day our goal is to make our guests feel at home, and we hope that this program brings that same feeling to the men and women who serve, and also inspire the hospitality industry to support this cause.”
The campaign was kicked off with a holiday themed event hosted Nov. 20 at the USO Warrior and Family Center at Naval Support Activity Bethesda, Home of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Celebrity Chef Kelsey Nixon was on hand to treat U.S. military families to an interactive cooking demonstration, where more than 100 attendees learned recipes to incorporate to their holiday traditions and options to send to their loved ones overseas. Kelsey also collaborated with former Whitehouse Chef Jack Slattery on a special meal for the occasion.
Staff members from Homewood Suites in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. were in attendance to help build the first set of holiday themed Make a Moment boxes. The evening was capped off with a symbolic check presentation and vacation giveaway by Homewood’s Kuhn. Two winners from the group were randomly selected to enjoy weekend stays at the Homewood Suites of their choice.
“This is an exciting opportunity for the USO,” said USO Vice President of Corporate Alliances Christy Hartsell. “Troops and military families miss out on countless everyday moments in service to our country. It is such an honor for us to be able to partner with Homewood Suites by Hilton to give military families the opportunity to celebrate those missed moments and to show them that America supports them, appreciates their sacrifices and are always by their side.”
Homewood Suites’ Make a Moment program is part of the brand’s ongoing campaign to honor military families, which includes partnerships with the USO, Folds of Honor Foundation and Military Spouse of the Year program, as well as a evergreen 15 percent discount off the best available rate to all active and retired military. The brand’s military support campaign is also part of Hilton Worldwide’s wider commitment, Operation: Opportunity, a pledge to hire 10,000 veterans over the next five years and donate millions of Hilton HHonors points to assist job-seeking veterans.
