ORLANDO—Today, the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Foundation (AHLEF), and the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association (FRLA) are partnering with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to announce a grant commitment of $75,000 to help two Orlando community-based organizations—Second Harvest and After-School All-Stars—recruit individuals to join the growing hotel industry.
In Orlando, more than 190,000 young adults are looking for employment. Annually, the Orlando hotel industry has more than 7,600 job openings and nearly 400 positions currently open. Grant funds will connect these youth to employers in the hospitality industry and provide training to help them succeed.
As a result of the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Foundation’s grant commitment, After School All-Stars will be able to expand its after-school training program to at least two additional high schools in the Orlando area. The program will focus on developing job readiness skills to train youth for positions in the hospitality industry. Additionally, Second Harvest will be able to host culinary-focused training for job seekers.
The event, which will be held at Edgewater High School, is part of AHLA’s Hospitality is Working campaign, a national awareness effort to showcase career advancement opportunities, community commitment, and economic importance of hotel and lodging businesses to every city and state across America.
