Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As many of you know, Starwood’s EAME division sponsors Check Out for Children to raise money for UNICEF, which has raised over US$ 22 million since 1995.

As one of the promises of the Journey to Do the Right Thing, we inaugurated the Road to Awareness (RTA) bike ride in 2008 to supplement the fund-raising efforts for UNICEF in our hotels. The idea was to select a group of 12 cyclists to undertake an epic three-day challenge of climbing several mountains in Provence, France, including Mont Ventoux (the legendary mountain in the Tour de France, and the only mountain stage race that Lance Armstrong never won!). The goal of RTA 2008 was to raise money for a child-to-child communication project in Mozambique to enable young people in Mozambique to establish programs to raise awareness and educate them on how to prevent HIV infection. I rode in RTA 2008, and together with the other riders, we raised over US$270,000 for this project.

Although I couldn’t participate last year, RTA 2009 involved several mountain passes in the Pyrenees in southern France, some of which will be raced in this year’s Tour de France. The funds for RTA 2009 were dedicated to provide social and medical support to 2,000 street children in Cairo, and to provide shelter to protect them from violence and abuse. Notwithstanding the financial difficulties of 2009, RTA 2009 raised US$190,000 for this project.

Building on our past successes, we are organizing RTA 2010, and I again will participate representing our Legal department. This year’s ride over three days and 370 kilometers (230 miles) will take us through the legendary mountains of the Dolomites in northern Italy, many of which have been raced in the Giro d’Italia, and featuring the (in)famous Passo Dello Stelvio which climbs 2757 meters (9045 feet) over 24.3 kilometres (15 miles). It is the highest paved mountain pass in the Alps. The project for this year’s fund raising efforts is the Schools for Africa program (SFA) in South Africa. This project is a partnership between the Nelson Mandela Institute and UNICEF focused on accelerating access to quality basic education for 8 million children in 11 African countries. The funds raised through RTA 2010 will support phase two of the SFA campaign in South Africa, including direct support for 1,500 orphans and vulnerable children in 5 rural schools, training of 70 teachers and leadership training for 20 school principals as well as sports for development activities in 18 schools. The goal for the RTA 2010 fund raising effort is to raise US$200,000 for SFA.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and secure. (Note that being an EAME-based program working with a UK fund raiser, the amounts are denominated in British Pounds. At current exchange rates, one British Pound is about 1.50 US Dollars).

I’ll update you on my Journey through the Dolomites in RTA 2010. In the meantime, I need to get on my bike for another training ride.

Thanks in advance for your help and support!

 

Brian