Einar Gudmundsson, Director of Food and Beverage, Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa, Florence, Alabama, presented Ronnie McDonald, Publisher & Editor of Southern Fishing news and founder of Operation HOOAH, a check for five hundred dollars for the project.
Mr. Gudmundsson sold red velvet cakes to the diners in the hotel’s restaurant as a selection for dessert in the month of November 2013 and donated the proceeds from those sales to Operation HOOAH. The director also gave patrons the opportunity to donate to the project on their meal ticket just like a gratuity.
Mr. Einar Gudmundsson, Director of Food and Beverage, Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa presents Ronnie McDonald, Southern Fishing News, with a $500 check for Operation HOOAH December 17, 2013.
The Food and Beverage Department of the hotel did not stop at the donation for their support of the wounded Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) on their trip to the Shoals Area for two days of rehab fishing. The Marriott Shoals provided a breakfast on each day of the event for the Soldiers and prepared twenty brown bag “fishing lunches” on the first full day of the outing. The Soldiers had lunch at the ramp on the second day.
In addition to the support of Mr. Gudmundsson, General Manager Larry Bowser authorized his Executive Assistant, Kimberly Tittle, to work with Southern Fishing News on arrangements to provide rooms for all of the Soldiers at no expense. The Marriott Shoals also provided the rooms for the twenty wounded Soldiers in the 2012 Operation HOOAH event. Ms. Tittle made sure all of the Soldiers had accommodations for the two nights they spent in Florence.
The Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa, as well as the hotel’s Food and Beverage Department, have assured McDonald of their intent of continued support for Operation HOOAH in 2014 and beyond.
