For the fourth year in a row, the Choice Hotels International Foundation was the presenting sponsor of the 14th Annual Chef’s Best Dinner & Auction at the Hilton Washington in Washington, D.C. The Choice Hotels International Foundation donated $40,000 to Food & Friends, the organization that hosted the June 7 fund-raising event.

Food & Friends delivers nutritious meals, groceries and nutrition education to individuals fighting HIV, AIDS, cancer and other debilitating illnesses throughout the Washington Metropolitan area. More than 60 chefs and 1,350 guests attended the event including Washington D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, who proclaimed June 8 as “Food & Friends” Day.

The Chef’s Best Dinner & Auction raised $711,000. All proceeds will directly benefit people in the Washington Metropolitan area living with HIV, AIDS, cancer and other debilitating illnesses.

“Choice Hotels International is proud to be the presenting sponsor of the 14th Annual Chef’s Best Dinner & Auction,” said Michael DeSantis, Choice Hotels’ senior vice president, general counsel and secretary. “We continue to choose Food & Friends as a Foundation recipient because of the dedication and vision you bring to serving both clients and the community.”

Based in Silver Spring, Md., Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH), one of the world’s largest lodging francisors, franchises more than 5,000 hotels open or under development worldwide under the Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn and MainStay Suites brand names.

In November 1999, Choice established the Choice Hotels International Foundation to target and coordinate support for nonprofit charitable and educational organizations. In the past year, the Choice Hotels International Foundation has also given grants to the Good Samaritan Foundation, Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund, the Habitat for Humanity, Howard University, the United Planning Organization’s Martin Luther King Scholarship Fund, the D.C. Boys Choir, Ford’s Theatre and Urban Nation.
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