For the third consecutive year, the Choice Hotels International Foundation was the presenting sponsor of the Annual Chef`s Best Dinner & Auction, held at The Hilton Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, May 27.

The 13th Annual Chef`s Best Dinner & Auction, which featured the culinary specialties of more than 60 of the finest chefs in metropolitan Washington along with silent and live auctions, was hosted by Food & Friends, an organization providing meals to individuals in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia living with HIV, AIDS, breast and colon cancer and other life-challenging illnesses.

The 13th Annual Chef`s Best Dinner & Auction, which was attended by 1,300 guests, raised more than $600,000 to provide services to Food & Friends` clients.

“The Choice Hotels International Foundation is once again proud to be the presenting sponsor of the Annual Chef`s Best Dinner & Auction,” said Charles A. Ledsinger, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Choice Hotels International, Inc. “We applaud the work of Food & Friends and the organization`s ongoing service to the community.”

As presenting sponsor, the Choice Hotels International Foundation donated $35,000 to Food & Friends, a 40 percent increase over the amount given in 2002 and 2001.

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

In November 1999, Choice Hotels established the Choice Hotels International Foundation to target and coordinate support for nonprofit charitable and educational organizations. In the past year, other D.C. area recipients of grants from the Choice Hotels International Foundation include: the D.C. Boys Choir, Ford`s Theatre, Good Samaritan Foundation, Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund, Howard University and the United Planning Organization`s Martin Luther King Scholarship Fund. Non- Washington, D.C. area foundation recipients include the Salvation Army, Northern Arizona University, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Morgan State.

Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, MainStay Suites, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn are registered trademarks and service marks of Choice Hotels International, Inc.

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