Sweet Dreams, Full Plates has helped connect the hospitality industry, guests, local businesses and community in one simple transaction with one straightforward goal—to fill the plates of people in Western North Carolina who are facing an empty plate.

The campaign is simple: Guests at participating hotels can simply hang a door hanger on their room to opt out of stay-over service, and the hotel makes a donation to the local food bank to help provide food to families experiencing hunger.

 

 

Sweet Dreams, Full Plates was started at the Doubletree by Hilton Asheville-Biltmore Hotel. The managers were working on a way to help get their staff out earlier during the holidays so they could spend time with friends and family. The team printed door hangers that read “I Fed a Family” and we placed them in all the rooms. The hotel staff educated guests checking in over Thanksgiving that if they forgo stayover service the hotel would donate enough money to the local food bank, MANNA FoodBank, to feed a family. The staff were amazed to come in after the holiday weekend to find 250 rooms had chosen to participate raising, $500. The team then shared this with the other four hotels in the company, and for Christmas they all raised over $2000, which helped provide enough food for more than 7000 meals.

The idea was shared at a citywide hotel meeting, and quickly grew to 25 hotels interested in participating. The first official year of the campaign in 2017 raised over $20,000 for people facing hunger. The second year, the group of participating hotels grew to 35, and raised over $40,000 or 140,000 meals. This year, 46 hotels are participating in the Sweet Dreams, Full Plates campaign.

Find out more at SweetDreamsFullPlates.org