During this season of God’s Gift to us, two hotels in the area are among businesses that have extended a helping hand to the needy in the community.

The staff at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, as part of the corporate-sponsored program, FORCE (Family of Responsible and Caring Employees), participate in several projects annually. Michael Smith, general manager of the hotel, is a strong advocate of community service. One of his innovations, in effect for the second consecutive year, is "Miracle on Christmas Street."

Thirty families, referred by the Arlington/Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless, are "Miracle on Christmas Street" participants this season. The week prior to Christmas, live trees with stands and ornaments were delivered to families. A few days before the holiday, wrapped presents, filled stockings and full dinners were brought to them by hotel staff. About 10 percent of the hotel’s 450-member personnel volunteered.

"We work hard to be a true community partner and neighbor," said Smith. "Each year more employees — and they often bring their families — get involved because they hear how much joy was created the previous year and they want to be a part of it."

Smith began the program while he was general manager of the Hyatt Harborside in Boston, Mass., from 1996-98. In addition to aiding needy families, the project reminds employees of all they have to be grateful for during the holiday season, said organizers.

Several businesses, most from the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, donated funds, gifts and members’ time to "Miracle on Christmas Street." Contributors included the Cherrydale Health and Rehabilitation Center, Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Arlington and Georgetown Preparatory School in Bethesda, Md.

"It was a concerted effort," said Damion Lynch, the hotel branch’s employee relations manager and primary coordinator of this year’s project, along with the Human Resources team. "We had help from everyone from managers to line employees." Lynch, a member of St. Augustine Parish in Washington, said they begin planning in late September or early October.

Through the "Miracle," they were able to assist double the number of families than the year before. At an average of three to four members in each family, he said, gifts for more than 100 people were purchased for those "from the youngest child to the eldest family member."

Through the Coalition for the Homeless, the families filled out their Christmas wish lists, he said, and benefactors tried to obtain every item requested.

"I think it’s a true miracle," said Lynch, adding that it felt especially gratifying "to see the happy faces of the people" to whom they brought the items. "I think a lot of hearts were touched, both those who donated and those who received."

Lynch said Smith "wanted to share the goodness of the employees with the community." He said that hotel staff members have no incentive to help except their "generosity of heart."

"The employees gave of their time, talents and treasure," he said. They donated clothes, cooking, gifts, wrapping paper, money and some came in on their day off to assist.

Nationwide, each Hyatt Hotel sponsors at least two FORCE projects a year. The Crystal City Hyatt sponsors four, which have included an all-employee donation of two tons of clothes and raising $28,000 for United Way.

Over the holidays, Marriott International, Inc. launched a program to donate "gently used" mattresses to nonprofit agencies and needy families, kicking it off with a gift of 500 mattresses from the Tysons Corner Marriott Hotel. The first Marriott Hotel to open in the United States was the local Twin Bridges Motor Hotel in Arlington in 1957.

Part of a larger company-wide "Spirit to Serve our Communities" program, the organization will donate more than 100,000 mattresses over the next three years to family service organizations in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston and Miami. Gifts In Kind International, a nonprofit clearinghouse, will coordinate distribution of the donated mattresses.

"As we install new state-of-the-art comfort mattresses and bedding in more than 200 Marriott hotels in America, we saw a great opportunity to meet the needs of organizations and families in our local communities," said J.W. Marriott, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International. "We’ve always looked for ways to give back, and we’re especially pleased to begin this program during the holiday season."

"Many families across the country are in need of important household items, and Marriott’s generosity represents a significant contribution," said Susan Corrigan, president and chief executive officer of Gifts In Kind International. "The donation of mattresses will be put to good use by the facilities that provide housing and family services to those who need it most."

In a separate initiative, ExecuStay by Marriott, the corporate housing services business that leases furnished apartments to business travelers, recently began donating $150,000 in home furnishings to shelters and missions. The program was enacted in cities across the country including Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Hartford, Conn.; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami/Ft. Lauderdale; New York; Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Sacramento, Calif.; San Antonio; San Francisco; Seattle and Washington, D.C.

Nationally, items being contributed by ExecuStay consist of 6,300 bed and bath items (blankets, comforters, shower curtains, bathroom rugs, sets of sheets and towels); 12,000 kitchen products (sets of dishes, flatware, carving knives, glassware, napkins, pots, pans and small appliances); 400 electric/electronic devices (televisions, VCRs, telephones, answering machines, vacuum cleaners and irons); decorative accessories (floral arrangements and wall pictures) and clothing.

Nonprofit agencies seeking mattresses or household furnishings for their facility or people in need may contact Gifts In Kind International through their web site: www.giftsinkind.org, by sending a fax to 703/549-1481, or by calling 703/836-2121.