Las Vegas Sands Corporation announced a new global corporate citizenship commitment, highlighted by signature global partnerships with the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the international nonprofit organization Clean the World.
The operator will contribute $7 million to the UNLV hotel college over five years to develop a global professional and executive education program and assist in the construction of a new academic building, as well as $1 million to Clean the World in 2014, the largest corporate gift in the nonprofit’s history.
Clean the World collects and recycles discarded hygiene products from hospitality companies and distributes them to those in need in more than 70 countries who are at risk for life-threatening, but highly preventable hygiene-related diseases, such as pneumonia, cholera and dysentery.
Both commitments are part of LVS’ new global corporate citizenship program, Sands Cares, which manifests the company’s core corporate social responsibility focus: “supporting people in the company and the hospitality industry, making local communities where LVS operates a better place to live, and reducing environmental impact on the planet.”
In addition to the global partnerships, Sands Cares supports local communities where Las Vegas Sands operates. The company will fine-tune its efforts to address the most pressing issues in its local communities through property-level support of initiatives that make local communities more livable and attract people to the area. Sands Cares is also designed to highlight and reinforce the charitable achievements already taking place across the company’s different properties around the world.
“LVS is committed to creating positive and tangible benefits in the areas we care most about—our team members, our industry, the local communities we call home, and our planet,” said Michael Leven, LVS president and chief operating officer. “Sands Cares and our work with UNLV and Clean the World will impact all of these focus areas. With this corporate commitment uniting our teams around the globe, we will truly make a difference on some very important initiatives.”
The LVS commitment to UNLV’s hotel college enables a first-of-its-kind global Center for International Hospitality and Gaming Education, an elite educational program intended to provide a variety of professional education assets to hospitality professionals in Las Vegas, Singapore and Macau, where LVS has significant presence, as well as in emerging markets.
The center will deliver curriculum that enables working professionals to obtain the skills and knowledge necessary for advancing their careers.
The LVS funding also supports construction of UNLV’s new Hospitality Hall, which will offer world-class educational facilities to build stronger links between the hospitality industry and the UNLV hotel college. Matched with state funding, the building is anticipated to be complete in fall 2017.
“With LVS’ support, we are setting the global standard in hospitality and gaming education and development of the industry’s future leaders and scholars,” said Stowe Shoemaker, dean of the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration. “These endeavors are vital for continuing UNLV’s leadership and building an environment that enhances the learning styles of tomorrow’s students, creating a truly global classroom.”
LVS’ extended partnership with Clean the World will significantly accelerate the organization’s unique mission to turn waste into life-saving hygiene products, and marks a considerable expansion of LVS’ existing relationship with the nonprofit organization. Since 2011, Clean the World and LVS have diverted more than 52 tons of waste from LVS properties, resulting in more than 367,000 bars of recycled soap for needy populations.
In 2014, LVS is investing a myriad of resources to help increase Clean the World’s impact both in the United States and internationally, as well as to the communities where LVS operates to provide hygiene supplies for underserved populations.
“This partnership is monumental for our mission to propel the global hygiene revolution,” said Shawn Seipler, co-founder and executive director of Clean the World. “LVS’ willingness to step beyond the normal product recycling partnership shows a deep commitment to this cause. It’s a win-win for reducing impact on the environment while helping homeless and impoverished populations, as well as disaster victims, gain access to simple products that can make a big impact on their lives.”
