KOTA KINABALU: The residents of Bukit Harapan charity home were treated to some Christmas cheer from the staff of Hyatt Regency Kinabalu in their annual holiday visit last Tuesday.
The home that accommodates some residents ranging from 7 to 54-year olds was treated with lots of fun-filled activities the whole afternoon with Christmas carols from the hotel’s caroling group, five- star catering, games and prizes and Christmas goody bags filled with daily necessities like body lotion and toiletries.
The visit was led by the hotel’s director of Human Resource, Mary Susan Johnson and director of Engineering, Paul Lajumin along with 24 staff of Hyatt Regency Kinabalu.
The visit began with the staff receiving a warm welcome from the residents, followed by Christmas songs by residents of Bukit Harapan and the hotel’s own dedicated caroling group. The hotel bonded with the residents over games like balloon-popping and musical statues.
“Our annual visit here is something we greatly look forward to every year. Connecting with the community and giving back is one of the pillars of the Hyatt brand and we want to ensure that the people around us are happy too,” said Lajumin in his address during the event.
Bukit Harapan is a self-funded non-governmental organization founded in 1988 by Anne Keyworth also known as ‘Mama Anne’’. Currently, there are 41 residents in Bukit Harapan, taken care by 14 staff. The home is open to orphans, the mentally-disabled, the abused and the homeless.
Bukit Harapan provides speech therapy and physiotherapy in the form of classes to the residents which help to reduce difficulties they face in their daily lives. These classes are conducted from Mondays to Fridays. Bukit Harapan operates solely on donations from the public.
“No matter how severely handicapped a body is, as long as the heart beats, we have a duty to respect and preserve their life, and this is the mission and principle of our home,” said Keyworth.
Hyatt’s corporate social responsibility initiative, THRIVE’s mission is to develop locations where our associates are proud to work, our guests want to visit, our neighbors want to live and owners want to invest.
As part of Hyatt Regency Kinabalu’s community project, the hotel visits and maintains relationships with several charities initiatives throughout the years.