Mr. Marriott serves the Community through Campus Kitchen

Bill Marriott, Jr. and other top executives from the Marriott International headquarters chopped strawberries, kneaded dough, and mixed salad alongside Campus Kitchen and Hotel & Restaurant Management students Wednesday, May 18 at Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville, Md. as part of the company's "Spirit to Serve our Communities" Day.

"Our culture is one of taking care of people and my mom and dad started the business with that in mind," Mr. Marriott later told the group of 30 students.

Through cooking healthy meals with the Campus Kitchen, Mr. Marriott helped care for residents of The Dwelling Place, a transitional housing facility for formerly homeless families, as 1800 plus employees from headquarters spanned out across the Washington, D.C. area to care for others.

Following a welcome from Campus Kitchen leaders Dan McCoy and Ashley Minton, Campus Kitchen groups directed various Marriott executives in making and packaging fruit salad, green salad, strawberry yogurt, meatloaf, potatoes, and biscuits for the meals they deliver monthly to The Dwelling Place. Marriott participants included: Vice President of Talent Acquisition & Selection Steve Bauman, Vice President of Social Responsibility Mari Snyder, and General Manager of Bethesda North Marriott Bob Daley.

"It's really important to give back to the community. We really enjoy it," Mr. Marriott told the group.

Marriott has a long history of support for the Campus Kitchen Project's parent organization, DC Central Kitchen. The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation sponsors the Culinary Job Training Program, while Marriott International provides in-kind support. Mr. Marriott and his family even celebrated the 80th anniversary of the founding of Marriott by judging an apple pie contest at DC Central Kitchen.

The meal service gave students a chance to meet a potential employer and talk individually about their futures in the hospitality industry. As the group wrapped up meal service, participants retreated to a classroom for a special question and answer session with Mr. Marriott.

"The best job of all was the soda fountain because I got to eat what was leftover of the ice cream," Marriott told the group as he spoke of his humble beginnings in the work force.

He also explained what makes a good leader: "When you are in a leadership position, you need to listen to your people. I have not run the company by just doing what I want to do."

Students at the Campus Kitchen at University of Maryland Eastern Shore at the Universities of Shady Grove complete Campus Kitchen volunteer shifts as part of their Hotel & Restaurant Management curriculum. Mahalia Barnes, a student at the Universities of Shady Grove, was recently hired by Marriott. Similar to Barnes, most students hope for employment with companies like Marriott after graduation, and asked how to better position themselves for that opportunity.

"Learn all you can and try a lot of jobs because the more broadly you participate, the better you will do going forward," said Marriott.