This Thursday we will close our headquarters and the various offices across the U.S. for Thanksgiving, an American tradition of celebrating the harvest and giving thanks. In the spirit of the holiday, we asked Jennifer Barkley (Jennifer.barkley@sabre.com), manager of global community involvement at Sabre Holdings, to guest blog this week about Sabre’s employee giving efforts. One of things I appreciate most as a Sabre employee is the company’s commitment to corporate responsibility and to sustainability. Does your company have a CSR policy? Jennifer’s recap may offer a few ideas on how to get started on engaging your hotel or other business within its community.

This time of year is often referred to as the “season of giving.” This certainly rings true at Sabre as each autumn marks our annual global charitable giving and fundraising campaign, Give Together. Each year, Sabre employees around the world have a unique opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to our mission of “better travel, better world.” They come together in creative ways to collaborate with each other and even customers to raise money for important charitable causes in their communities.

This year’s Give Together campaign took place across more than 25 countries, with over 100 employee-initiated charity fundraising events. Sabre’s Corporate Social Responsibility department provides the overall framework for the Give Together initiative and then encourages employees to organize their own giving activities with co-workers, business partners, customers, and/or members of their communities. We recommend that Sabre staff leverage their expertise, talents and passions to make a positive difference in this way. From online auctions, wacky relays and golf tournaments to raffles, snack bars, cooking competitions, dance parties and photo competitions, employees found hundreds of creative ways to build relationships with their co–fundraisers and benefit worthwhile causes.

Personal donations to travel-related causes
Employees in the United States also had an opportunity to make personal charitable pledges online via payroll deduction or credit card.  Our giving tool highlights causes relevant to the travel industry, such as human trafficking or environmental sustainability, but it also gives employees the option to choose from thousands of non-profit causes that may be personally meaningful to them. This element of choice is yet another part of what makes Give Together a unique and rewarding program.

More than $15 million raised
Since 2000, the Give Together campaign has raised more than $15 million dollars for charities worldwide, including the annual contribution that Sabre makes to match employee donations. This year Sabre will match $250,000 of the more than $800,000 raised by employees through fundraisers and personal donations, taking our campaign total to over $16 million dollars. The match is prorated and will be spread equally among all of the charities that our campaign benefitted.

Employee connections
Each part of the campaign is special in its own way, but my favorite part of the campaign, when it’s all said and done, is seeing the smiles and hearing the stories from the employees who participated in Give Together. There’s a sense of connectedness between colleagues and our communities, and a sense of renewed awareness of opportunities we have to make a positive difference in the lives of others. This powerful idea brings people together across continents and communities to make the world a better place. It’s better travel, better world at it’s best.

To those of our readers who are based in the U.S., we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving this week!

*Image: SabreTN Hosted Car Wash