Teaching the true meaning of giving

Morgan M. Hurley | Downtown Editor

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton once said, “It takes a village” when referring to the raising of children and for the fifth year in a row, a popular Downtown hotel is putting that very discipline into action.

Since 2007, the Manchester Grand Hyatt and its Gingerbread Village Project have provided funding to local charities that make a difference in children’s lives and they draw participation from area children in order to do so.

Through this annual project the hotel not only raises money to support the local chapter of the Make A Wish Foundation, but also teaches nearly 200 local area children what it is like to give instead of get during the holiday season. Those children also get an up-close look at a major hotel operation and its culinary career choices.

On November 15 & 16, third and fourth graders from three Downtown community schools – Monarch School, Perkins Elementary and Kimbrough Elementary  – gathered in four-person teams at the hotel, designing and building their gingerbread houses with the help of hotel culinary staff.

This Friday, Nov. 30, the children’s work will be positioned in the Grand Lobby of the hotel to create a “magical gingerbread village.” Its centerpiece will be a six-foot-high, 1/50th scale gingerbread replica of the 497-foot tall Manchester Grand Hyatt and its grounds, complete with parking garage and pool, created earlier this week by Executive Chef Brent Martin.

With a total of 65 gingerbread houses, a six-foot tall hotel replica and 65 gingerbread persons completed for the project, the Hyatt said 200 pounds of gingerbread mix, 20 gallons of Royal icing and 550 pounds of holiday candies are used during the process.

“The annual Gingerbread Village is by far our most highly anticipated interactive event of the season,” said Kelly Commerford, director of marketing at the waterfront hotel. “We are thrilled to continue our ongoing partnership with the Make a Wish Foundation and are blessed to have the opportunity to connect San Diego’s youth with such an inspiring organization.”

According to its website, the local chapter of the Make A Wish Foundation “grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.”

Last year the Manchester Grand Hyatt hosted 175 Make A Wish families who travelled to San Diego as a result. This funding helps allow them to visit the Zoo, the USS Midway Museum and Balboa Park while they are here.

The gingerbread village will be on display through Dec. 31, however, local residents are encouraged to come to the Manchester Grand Hyatt between now and Dec 14 to view the student’s work and cast their vote.  The hotel is also an official drop-off point for the Toys for Tots program, so visitors are also encouraged to bring an new, unwrapped toy for a boy or a girl.

That same evening, the Hyatt will host all the families involved with a full buffet-style dinner, sing Christmas Carols, make ornaments and announce the top three winners of the gingerbread contest. The winning gingerbread house team will then present Make A Wish with a $2000 check to support the children with life-threatening illnesses that they service.

Commerford said this was but one of the many projects of the Hyatt Thrive global initiatives the local hotel conducts throughout the year that center on community engagement. “The kids just have a ball,” Commerford said. “What’s really cool is [they] really get it.” He described a team-leader who last week pleasantly surprised him during the gingerbread house presentation phase. He said she reminded him why the project exists. He said that moment came when “Sylvia,” who had an older brother and sister that had also gone through the same program in previous years, shared with him the name of her team’s gingerbread house. It was called “House of Hope.”

“She said ‘we just hope all these sick kids at Make A Wish get well’,” Commerford said. “This is why we do it, it’s not about the publicity.”

The Manchester Grand Hyatt is located at One Market Place at Harbor Drive, next to Seaport Village and near the Convention Center. For more information, call 619-232-1234 or visit Manchester.grandhyatt.com.