HFH Marriott Team Helps Build Two Houses During Habitat’s “Golf & Build” in Guam
Members Take Part In Golf Tournament And Enjoy A Banquet
AGANA, Guam, 9th January 2007: A Global Village volunteer team from Marriott International hit a sweet spot during the second Habitat for Humanity’s Golf & Build in Guam recently.
Coordinated effort: volunteers painting the internal walls of one home under construction in Guam.
Refreshing: volunteers at the fruit and vegetable juice station set up after the golf tournament.
Satisfying: Marriott staff helping to man a grill station set up after the golf tournament.
Six executives from Marriott’s global sales office in Japan arrived on the western Pacific island to join 15 executives from Guam Marriott Resort & Spa in building two Habitat houses. Others who helped included six HFH Guam volunteers who took time off from work on a weekday.
The volunteers worked alongside the Habitat home partner families, in the village of Mangilao, on the eastern part of the island. The volunteers did mostly painting and caulking of windows and doors at one house as well as installing electrical wiring at another home. Both the houses comprise three bedrooms with an open kitchen design and one bathroom.
After the one-day build was over, the Marriott team had a day’s rest before taking part in a golf tournament in Dededo village, northern Guam. The tournament was mostly run by local staff from Marriott including employees from banquet, housekeeping and administration departments.
Marriott’s flair for organization was amply demonstrated in the banquet after the tournament. Culinary treats were in store at various holes on the golf course, including a “yakitori” grill station, a burger station, a wine and cigar lounge complete with leather couch and carpet, an ice-cream parlor and a fruit and vegetable juice corner.
A Marriott spokesperson said: “Marriott has a long history of supporting Habitat for Humanity around the world. In addition to providing volunteers for the house builds, we felt that it was particularly important to partner with Habitat on Guam to raise funds.
“This is because Guam has very strict building codes due to the frequency of categories 4 and 5 typhoons which makes it very, very expensive to build a house here. This is a major barrier for many people who end up living in substandard housing on our island.”
The challenges of building on Guam are confirmed by Becky North, president of HFH Guam board, who said: “We build here in solid concrete construction. Both these homes are built with block and have poured concrete roofs. We need to do this since we are often plagued with very strong typhoons and are in a seismic 4 zone for earthquakes.”
The houses that the Marriott team worked on are the 17th and 18th houses being built by HFH Guam. HFH Guam, established in 1996, was the first non-profit homebuilder on the island and completed its first home in 1998.
HFH Guam’s work is boosted by the efforts and enthusiasm of teams such as Marriott. The consensus was that the Golf & Build was a truly Marriott experience. The team members were pleased with the active participation and “proud to be a part of something so huge”. So will the Marriott team return for 2008 Golf & Build? The answer is a resounding yes.