1st CHART Restaurant and Hotel Training Professionals' Silent Auction Raises over $14,000 for Share Our Strength (SOS)

The auction was part of CHART's 76th Semi-annual Hospitality Training Conference, held August 9-12, 2008 at the Gaylord National, just outside of Washington, DC. The auction took place on Monday, August 11 during the Commitment to People Awards Gala, where Billy Shore, Founder and Executive Director of SOS, gave a keynote address to over 300 in attendance.

'CHART has been supportive of SOS for more than seven years, donating money in the name of our conference speakers and in fundraising drives. Our conference community service events were modeled after SOS service events and have involved almost exclusively SOS recipient organizations,' said John Isbell, CHART president and director of operations services and training for IHOP Restaurants. 'To raise more than $14,000 in the inaugural auction speaks to the incredible generosity of CHART members to help make sure no child in America grows up hungry.'

Bidding items for the auction were donated by CHART members, and included hotel stays by Pacifica Hotel Group, CSM Lodging and Sage Hospitality, restaurant gift certificates by Zed 451, Hard Rock Café and California Pizza Kitchen, Riedel wine decanters, Morton's gift certificates and a bottle of wine signed by Greg Norman by Morton's, The Steakhouse, and free training sessions by CHART expert speakers, among other items.

In addition, the 11th semi-annual community service event was held during the conference on Sunday, August 10. Over 50 conference attendees sorted and packed 14,000 pounds of food and over 1,000 bag lunches at the Capitol Area Food Bank, an SOS recipient organization.

'One of our keynote speakers, Barbara Glanz, said that she has spoken to hundreds of organizations on all seven continents, but this was her first time at a conference that incorporated a community service event for attendees,' Isbell stated. 'It is our way of giving back to the host community, while creating bonds among members and giving trainers an example of how they can take this type of effort back to their restaurants and hotels.'

For more information, please call 312-405-2634, email lmarovec@ameritech.net, visit www.chart.org.

CHART, a non-profit professional association founded in 1970, is the leading resource for the development and advancement of hospitality training professionals. With more than 700 members from more than 400 multi-unit restaurant and hotel companies, CHART represents a workforce of almost five million. CHART includes all facets of hospitality training, learning and performance professionals, from entry level to senior executive. CHART's mission is to develop hospitality training professionals to advance industry training practices and improve operational results by providing access to education, tools and resources.

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