2008 Philanthropy in Review
At the hotel level, our annual goal is based each hotel donating $200 per room in gift certificates, in-kind donations, fundraisers, or events. In sum, our hotels donated $1.3 million in 2008. This is nearly $500,000 above and beyond our goal!
Our hotels continued to support local causes throughout the year. Whether it was donating room nights to staff and volunteers during the AIDS walk or one of the many local film festivals, hosting meetings for local organizations, or donating gift certificates to local school and charity auctions, each hotel formed lasting relationships in their community.
As seen below in the breakdown by cause, Family & Community, Education, Health, and Arts & Culture were the most heavily supported causes this year. We supported the Environmental and Poverty/Homelessness causes with volunteer efforts rather than money, as you will see in our Company-Wide philanthropy section.
| Summary By Cause | % $ | % # |
|---|---|---|
| Family and Community | 40% | 27% |
| Education | 33% | 21% |
| Health | 26% | 17% |
| Arts and Culture | 20% | 8% |
| Poverty/Homelessness | 14% | 7% |
| Environmental | 13% | 3% |
| Industry | 9% | 8% |
| Youth at Risk | 7% | 4% |
| Other | 4% | 5% |
The most money was donated in the form of Gift Certificates, but a significant amount also went to Events, which includes hosting rooms for film festivals, hosting meetings for non-profit organizations, and sponsoring events such as the AIDS Walk, Pride, etc. Gift certificates were also the most frequently given donations.
| Summary By Type | $ YTD | # YTD | Gift Certificates | 43% | 89% |
|---|---|---|
| Events | 30% | 8% |
| Fund Raisers | 25% | 1% |
| Donations | 2% | 2% |
2008 Company-wide Events
Joie de Vivre has always been with very involved in the communities in which our hotels are located. Every year, we plan volunteer activities and events where our employees can come together as a group to support local organizations. We plan four main events per year, one per quarter, and the turnout is overwhelming! Joie de Vivre employees long for the opportunity to give back to the community and now we have formalized a way to do that together.
Q1: The Environment – Surfrider Beach Clean Up
The Surfrider Foundation is a grass roots, non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans, waves and beaches for all people, through conservation, activism, research and education. With chapters up and down the California coast, this organization is a perfect match for Joie de Vivre, as we expand up and down the coast.
At the beginning of March, Joie de Vivre partnered with Surfrider to clean up the beach at four different beaches up and down the coast: San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Venice Beach, and Long Beach. Each location had a huge Joie de Vivre turnout, as employees brought family, friends, and even dogs to help keep our beaches clean. The Surfrider crew themselves were overwhelmed by our enthusiasm.
San Francisco, Ocean Beach,
March 2nd ~ 75 people
Santa Cruz, Twin Lakes Beach,
March 1st ~ 15 people
Los Angeles, Venice Beach,
March 1st ~ 15 people
Long Beach, Alamitos Beach,
March 8th ~ 25 people
Q2: Youth & Education –The Go Games benefiting Real Options for City Kids
On May 17th, 2008 Joie de Vivre employees formed three teams of five to compete in the second annual Go for Good event benefiting ROCK. The Go Game is a high-tech version of an old-fashioned scavenger hunt. Armed with a web enabled cell phone and a digital camera, teams downloaded missions and clues on their phones, then used the cameras to capture digital proof of their accomplishments. Everyone gathered at the end to vote on the pictures and videos to determine a champion. All proceeds go to Real Options for City Kids.
Q3: Health & Wellness – AIDS Walk
Our third quarter event was participation in the AIDS Walk on July 20th in San Francisco and in Los Angeles on October 21st.
In San Francisco, 43 JdV employees and family members walked the 6 miles through beautiful, misty Golden Gate Park along with 25,000 other dedicated walkers. The day was a lot of fun, with great bands and enthusiastic cheering squads on the sidelines helping us along. In Los Angeles, 33 of JdV’s Southern Californian employees participated in the AIDS Walk.
Q4: Arts & Culture/Poverty & Homelessness – A Good Day
On December 14th, we held an event called A Good Day at the Good Hotel. The event was planned by Joie de Vivre and a local organization called A Good Idea, a group working to inspire social change in our community by making good ideas happen. We invited 65 guests: homeless members of our community who are working with case managers at homeless shelters. The goal was to give them a good day – one filled with the good things in life: music, art, good food, makeup, manicures, new clothes, hairstyling…and good people. Homeless shelters in San Francisco do wonderful work providing meals and shelter to the homeless, the basic needs. But who is reaching out to them at a level above – their need for belonging, their need for connectedness, the opportunity to celebrate the joy of life? Therein lied the intent for this event.
Within the first hour of the event, the 65 guests were gathered in the lobby toasting their sparkling soda in champagne glasses and cheering on the jazz band. The mood was set and people were excited for what was to come. After an introduction, the guests split up and began exploring the many activities of the day: manicures, makeup, hair styling/cut, a peaceful massage room, selecting beautiful outfits from the racks and racks of clothing, an astrologist, a caricaturist, an artist (Ian Ross) painting small canvases to be given away later in the evening. Throughout the day, elegant and delicious appetizers were passed around on platters: Ahi Tuna Tartare, Mini Grilled Eggplant, Goat Cheese and Basil Pesto Sandwiches, Chinese Chicken Salad in mini “take-out” boxes, and of course Good Pizza.
“Ultimately it was the dozens of small, poignant moments experienced by guests and volunteers that made this event a successful and meaningful experience for all involved,” said Colette Perachiotti, who manages the Joie de Vivre Gives philanthropic program and launched the “A Good Day” event with Jared Paul of A Good Idea.
- Christine, a make up volunteer describes, filled with emotion, a woman she had just applied make-up on. As she finished, the woman looked in the mirror and stared crying. “I haven’t seen myself look so beautiful in years”, she said.
- Colette recalls, as she pulled a gentleman onto the dance floor and started grooving, he said “I haven’t been on the (dance) floor for 20 years!” He proceeded to boogie all night long like a pro, with the biggest smile on his face.
- Carinne, a volunteer in the Men’s Clothing area, helped a man pick out a suit. “I came in here with just this old sweater on and I am walking out with my first suit ever”. Carinne will never forget that moment.
- Because we received an overwhelming amount of donated clothing, the volunteers encouraged people to take a few extra items to give to family and friends. One woman said, “I get to play Santa this year....it has been a long time since I was able to give someone something". She took some shirts for her son who is 20 and working his way through college as a security guard.
- Another woman browsing through clothes, said to her friend, “They sent us some angels, didn’t they?”
- A manicure volunteer wrote after the event: “As one guest said to me during his hand massage, ‘What you all did here allows us to have our dignities back.’ It brought tears to my eyes. As simple as getting their nails cleaned, shaped, and/or polished had profound impact for sure”.
The guests were overwhelmed with the compassion of the day: “We are just not used to all this compassion. We don’t really know what to do with it." By the end of the evening though, they certainly seemed to know what to do with it. They were strutting their stuff in front of the cameras, dancing, laughing, socializing, and even sent a representative up to the microphone to thank us for the love and compassion that we showed in planning this event.
The volunteers got just as much out of the day. Being able to connect with the homeless community at this level was a unique and incredible experience that no one will forget and everyone will crave more of. Jared Paul said it best in addressing the crowd, “we are all one. We were all babies once and some of us have had different opportunities than others, but we are all one”. This elicited many cheers and amens throughout the room. The love and positive energy in the room brought us to tears over and over throughout the day.
There were about 75 volunteers, made up of Joie de Vivre employees, and the A Good Idea network. It was amazing to see all of these people come together to make the event happen. Everyone did their part and the result was a really Good Day.
The 65 guests came from three different homeless shelters and two drop in centers around San Francisco. They were personally invited by their case managers. Shuttles donated by Go Lorrie’s Airport Shuttle picked them up and dropped them off, so they didn’t have to walk home in the rain.
Chip Conley, CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, served the guests salads before getting up to address the crowd.
The dinner menu, created by Chef Jeff Rosen, included a duet of Grilled Marin Sun Farms Beef Tenderloin and Fulton Valley Chicken Breast stuffed with Swiss Chard, Sundried Tomato and Fromage Blanc, served with a Potato Garlic Gratin and Brussel Sprouts sautéed with Applewood Smoked Bacon and Hazelnuts.
This was such an amazing event that we plan to do it again in 2009, only bigger. This will be our 4th quarter event and will likely take place again in December.
Serving Breakfast to the Homeless at Glide Memorial Church
Several times a year, Joie de Vivre employees show up at 7:00am to put on their aprons and hair nets and serve breakfast to the hundreds of homeless people that line up outside of Glide each day. Glide serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner to the homeless 365 days a year, serving 2000 meals/day. Whether we were scooping cottage cheese onto trays, refilling coffee pitchers, or collecting dirty trays from the tables, we all felt as though we were helping to make these folks’ days just a little bit better.
Upcoming Events
Q2: Youth & Education Event
“Build a Classroom.....Build a Future”
with City Impact, Inc.
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
9am-3pm
230 Jones Street (between Eddy & Turk)
(Tenderloin District of San Francisco)
City Impact’s current project is to expand San Francisco City Academy (grades K-8) by building 12 new classrooms and bringing the entire building up to code. Currently, the school has about 40 students and this construction work will enable them to eventually serve up to 350 students. On June 20th, Joie de Vivre will be helping to build their school!
Q3: Health & Event
AIDS WALK
Sunday July 19th San Francisco
Sunday, Sept 13th Sacramento
Sunday, October18th Los Angeles
Q4: Arts & Culture/Poverty & Homelessness
A GOOD DAY, 2nd Annual, December 2009
