Marriott International held 2018 'Run to Give' in Greater China region raising over 1.2 million RMB for Operation Smile to support Chinese children with cleft conditions

Marriott International held 2018 'Run to Give' charity run in Greater China region on 16th September and has raised over 1.2 million RMB for Operation Smile, all proceeds generated from the event will be used to support safe and quality surgeries for the children with cleft lip and cleft palate in China. 290 Marriott hotels in 60 cities jointly supported this meaningful charity event with the attendance of more than 7,450 associates.

“As the largest hotel group in the world, Marriott International has more than 6,500 properties across 127 countries and territories, the foundation of our service philosophy is Marriott Culture that was perpetuated for 90 years — 'Put People First'. In 2017, Marriott International launched a new platform Serve 360: Doing Good in Every Direction as our social impact and sustainability development guideline. Align with 'Nurture Our World' , one of the principles in Serve 360, we initiated 2018 ‘Run to Give’ to support Operation Smile to carry out more missions for Chinese children with cleft conditions. It is delighted to see our associates make big efforts on this with great passion and believe that together we can improve our community and deliver aid to children in times of need.” said Angela Pan, the Guidance Team Member of Marriott Worldwide Business Councils, Greater China.

Marriott International has been supporting Operation Smile since 2008 and till now, more than 1,000 Marriott volunteers have been involved in the missions Operation Smile executed across China, meanwhile,  Marriott hotels in Greater China region also provide complimentary accommodation for international medical volunteers from all over the world.

Dr. Wang Xiao Wei, the President of Operation Smile Greater China expressed “Operation Smile conducted the first mission in China 27 years ago and over the years we have treated over 30,000 cleft lip and palate patients, this achievement is a joint effort from all of our individual and corporate supporters. We are very grateful to the continuous support from Marriott Group. And for more than 10 years, the passions and professionalism demonstrated by the Marriott volunteers who participated at our medical mission has extended tremendous help for the smooth delivery of our mission. I am very much inspired by the innovative ideas Marriott has put together in this ‘Run to Give’ campaign in promoting the importance of health and to do a good deed at the same time. I hope through this campaign, we can create more awareness to the current cleft problems we face around the world and ultimately the causes we serve. ”