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Resort Group Gave A Million Dollars To Charity Since 2018
posted (October 7, 2024)
The Muy'Ono collection consists of eight hotels - four that are owned by the company, and four that are managed by them. But no matter which one guests stay at, they'll be giving back to an organization in need. That's because their philanthropy program works by donating a small percentage of what guests spend on nightly accommodations. And on top of that, they have the option to match what is being donated.

And since the start of this program in 2018, the Muy'Ono resorts have reached the benchmark of donating one million dollars to charities. They marked the milestone with a ceremony today. Courtney Menzies was there and has this story.

Whenever a guest stays at one of Muy'Ono eight Resorts, they automatically become a part of the company's philanthropy program. The resort employees then choose a charity or community based organization in need of financial assistance and donates the funding they raised over the course of a month. For the beneficiaries, it can be godsend:

Paul Casanova, Manager, King's Children Home
"I remember, we do devotionals every morning and of course because I'm the manager, I know what the finance looks like. I can't freak out the staff by saying we're really on a tight budget. You don't want anybody to start worrying but we pray for support. And on this occasion we had a call and by the weekend, a little over $2,000 came in and for us, it was just enough to make sure we get the groceries packaged together and get things going for that weekend."

That's the kind of validation Muy'Ono's Chief Operations Officer loves to hear. He explained how exactly the program works:

Renaldo Malic, COO, Muy'Ono Resorts
"Each resort, their employees select a list of 12 recipients every year, so each year, a resort in the Muy'Ono portfolio donates to a different recipient every month so 12 recipients every year. How is the amount determined? Simple, at each resort, the moment you book a room at one of our resorts, we donate an automatic amount out of that. So the amount varies by resort because some of our resort are different sizes than others, so for instance at Hopkins Bay, that amount is $1US per night, so if you stayed there for five nights, we would donate $5US, we put $5US away. When you're checking out, we hope that you enjoyed your stay with us, and we ask you to match that $5."

It's a model that Prime Minister Briceno says other companies in the private sector should replicate:

John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I think the mere fact that here is an organization, a very successful business organization that has had this vision as to say, how can we help? What can we give back and opposed to just taking and taking which in many instances happens in the private sector."

"And when you look at what your organizations has been doing and reaching the million dollar mark, I wish that more companies can see what you're doing and they would be either inspired or feel a little bit shame and say we also have to do our part."

And for Kings Children's Home, the money goes a long way to educate the kids they house.

Paul Casanova, Manager, King's Children Home
"It's one word, a blessing, and through the years Muy'Ono has really been one of those entities that has always helped us in the work we're doing to serve the vulnerable population that we have and I'm think especially impressed with the fact that they have a program where it's philanthropic and we're able to be beneficiaries of it. It's unlike anything I've seen within the business community."

"The feeding of the kids and getting the kids off to school is a very big part of what we do. I mean when you're dealing with the education of kids, you're not just talking about the school fee structure, you're talking about clothing, you're talking about shoes, you're talking about textbooks. Then we transport our kids back and forth to school everyday so there's transportation cost to carry kids from point A to point B so in terms of that, it always gives us a good push forward to get this kind of donation in a timely fashion."

And while this month marks a milestone for Muy'Ono, as they've reached their millionth dollar donated, they said the program isn't ending anytime soon:

Renaldo Malic, COO, Muy'Ono Resorts
"We're recommitting ourselves to community. With the projected growth for our industry, which Muy'Ono is a part of, a big part of, we anticipate that it took us five years to get to a million so we're going to set a goal for ourselves and put ourselves under pressure to get to that 2 million dollar mark by 3 and a half to 4 years' time."

Out of the one million dollars, Muy'Ono has provided about $700,000, and the donations from guests make up the difference.

Other recipients include Octavia Waight Home for the Elderly, St. Jude RC School, Christ the King Anglican Primary School, Fragments of Hope, Valley of Peace Christian Primary School and Cayo Deaf Institute.

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