Representatives from nine local hotels partnered with the Johnson City Convention and Visitor’s Bureau to donate items to those in need. The items collected during the ‘Hotels with Heart’ drive were presented to Johnson City Salvation Army Capt. Michael Cox last Friday. PHOTOS BY DAVE ONGIE
By Dave Ongie
The Johnson City Convention & Visitors Bureau partnered with nine area hotels to put the wraps on a weeklong celebration of tourism in our area with a sizable donation to the Salvation Army.
The latest Hotels with Heart drive resulted in the donation of 500 hygiene bags and 220 pairs of sandals, which will be distributed to people in need of the items by the Salvation Army in Johnson City. Each bag contains shampoo, soap, lotion, toothbrush and paste, face wipes, shaving cream and a razor.
The items were collected at the Carnegie Hotel, Doubletree by Hilton, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Fairfield Inn and Suites, Courtyard by Marriott, Comfort Suites, Best Western and Quality Inn Downtown. Hotel employees, guests and members of the community all contributed to the program, which culminated in a presentation to Captain Michael Cox of the Salvation Army inside the lobby of the Doubletree Hotel on Friday.
“To know that hotels and people in this community, as well as tourists who are passing through this community, have banded together to reach the greater need is special,” Cox said.
Brenda Whitson, the executive director of the JCCVB, said the presentation was a fitting way to wrap up a week devoted to highlighting tourism in our region.
“This effort is a great way for our hotels to give back to our community, to those who are going to be coming through the doors of the Salvation Army who are very much in need of those supplies,” she said. “We just thank them so much for their efforts to help others.”
