Horseshoe Hammond and Harrah's Joliet, both part of the Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) group of companies, today announced the assembly and delivery of 1,500 life-changing hygiene kits to local homeless families. According to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, more than 125,000 people are homeless in Chicago, including more than 18,000 students enrolled in Chicago's public schools.
"Our relationship with Clean the World was initiated by an employee," said Dan Nita, Regional President, General Manager, Horseshoe Hammond and Caesars Foundation Trustee. "Housekeepers wanted to make a difference with the soaps and shampoo bottles they were throwing away on a daily basis. Their initiative has evolved into a program that helps millions of people around the world."
The hygiene kits were assembled and shared by Horseshoe Hammond and Harrah's Joliet employees, assisted by six employees from other properties within Caesars Entertainment group who won a spot on the distribution team through a company-wide annual essay contest.
"For the past four years, Caesars Entertainment has rewarded service-minded employees with a distribution trip to a country in need of the hygiene kits, including Guatemala and the Philippines," said Darren VanDover, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Harrah's Joliet. "This year, based on employee feedback, we decided to help a community closer to home, awarding the six employee winners with a trip to Chicagoland."
This year's winners are: Genie Hattig, Housekeeping Warehouse Manager, Planet Hollywood; Katherene Brookshire, Specialty Room Chef, Flamingo; Marta de Solorio, Inspector, Bally's Las Vegas; Jason Gonzalez, Housekeeping, Harrah's Metropolis; Amanda Lagunas, Wardrobe Manager, Rio; Sarah Grinstead, Cleaner, Harrah's North Kansas City.
The hygiene kits were distributed through non-profit partnerships in the greater Chicago metropolitan area: St. Joseph's Carmelite Home in East Chicago is open to children in crisis from birth to age 18; Haven House, Inc., located in Hammond, Indiana is a 24-hour emergency shelter for domestic violence victims and their dependents; Guardian Angel Community Services in Joliet, Illinois serves children and families, empowering them to improve the quality of their lives.
Caesars Entertainment and the Caesars Foundation have supported Clean the World, the largest global recycler of hotel amenities, since 2010. The Caesars Foundation donated $1M and Caesars Entertainment's North American properties have collected and recycled nearly 2 million bars of soap, contributing to Clean the World's efforts to reduce the number children under the age of five who die from diarrhea-related diseases globally each year because of a lack of soap and hygiene products.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Nov 9, 2016 12pm EST / 9am PST / 5pm GMT / 6pm CET