While it might be buried under a couple of feet of snow at the moment, the Westin Copley Place Boston had its moment in the sun when it was presented with The Spirit Award given by the Professional Convention Management Association at their annual convention in Hawaii earlier this month. From a press release:

The Spirit Award recognizes an individual member or organization that has “significantly affected lives in a charitable or humanitarian way through the meetings and conventions industry.” The Westin was nominated for this honor based on their Mentorship Program. This program was created in 2003, where under the leadership of General Manager, Vera Manoukian, hotel managers and supervisors were teamed up with a member of the Executive Committee who, as their mentor, offered assistance with individual development and led them in various community service projects.

The eight mentor groups at The Westin worked with local organizations on such missions as serving meals to the needy at The Pine Street Inn, helping to build a house with Habitat for Humanity, planning an etiquette class for inner city teenaged girls at Mother Caroline, making hats and scarves for the homeless at Malden Mills, planning activities (including arranging a police escort from Logan Airport to the Westin) for a group of 19 youths from St. Louis in various stages of cancer who wanted to visit Boston, as well as hosting several other food, clothing, toy, and blood drives. The award was presented to Manoukian in front of the other 2500 plus industry professionals attending the annual meeting. It was one of six prestigious awards given that day.

Congratulations, and keep up the good work, guys!