Choice Hotels Teams with Steve Harvey to Help Change Young Lives

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Jan 13, 2015, 10:06 ET

ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the world's leading hotel companies and franchisor of eleven hotel brands including Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Cambria hotels & suites, Sleep Inn and Quality, is proud to partner with celebrity entertainer and philanthropist Steve Harvey to help raise funds in support of The Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation and its youth initiatives. The dollars raised will go toward the Foundation's mission of helping young men and women, largely from inner-cities and single parent families, set and achieve their goals through programs like the Steve Harvey Mentoring Camp for Young Men. Choice Hotels President and CEO Steve Joyce made the announcement Monday on the Emmy Award winning daytime TV host's program, the Steve Harvey Show.

Choice Hotels President and CEO Steve Joyce with Steve Harvey

Choice Hotels President and CEO Steve Joyce with Steve Harvey and Mentoring Camp participants

You can watch the actual television announcement here.

Now, the more than 21 million members of Choice Hotels' Choice Privileges® loyalty program can donate their points to be redeemed for dollars that will go to The Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation. For every point contributed, Choice Hotels will match with a monetary gift, up to $50,000 annually. The donation website is www.choicehotels.com/donate.

"Choice Hotels has worked closely with The Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation for six years now. And we have seen firsthand the hard work, sacrifices and tremendous amount of resources necessary to help these young men and women recognize and start to achieve their potential," said Steve Joyce, president and CEO of Choice Hotels International.

Since the mentoring program's inaugural year in 2009, Choice Hotels has been the foundation's largest in-kind sponsor. The program takes place around Father's Day week on the grounds of Steve Harvey's family ranch in Texas. Choice Hotels and its franchisees have donated hundreds of room nights to help provide the hard-working single mothers of camp attendees, mentors, and camp volunteers comfortable accommodations, free hot breakfast and Wi-Fi in nearby hotels while the young male mentees experience nature by bunking with U.S. Army mentors in barrack-style tents.

"We are so pleased to be able to deepen our already strong relationship with Choice Hotels," said Steve Harvey. "Our aim is to inspire and impact kids from across the entire country. But two years ago we lost our airline sponsor and that greatly limited who we could invite to camp from all fifty states. We all want the widest reach possible. Choice Hotels stepped right in to fill the void."

In 2014, Steve Joyce served as a camp mentor alongside other businessmen, community leaders, members of the military and professional athletes. This experience included fishing lessons for the mentees as well as the opportunity for the young men to ask the mentors questions to help prepare them in life.

"I was humbled and honored to help these teenagers alongside an impressive group of highly accomplished and compassionate men," said Joyce. "The attentiveness and sincere interest the young men showed was truly moving. One young man asked me a lot of questions about business and real estate because his dream is to someday re-vitalize his community."

In addition to the Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation, Choice Privileges members have a generous record of giving to various charitable causes, including the American Red Cross, Rebuilding Together, Polaris and veterans groups.

About the Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation
The mission of The Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation is to provide outreach to fatherless children and young adults by promoting educational enrichment, one-on-one mentoring and global service initiatives that will cultivate the next generation of responsible leaders. Two cornerstone programs include The Steve Harvey Mentoring program for Young Men, which mentors young men who are without fathers, and The Girls Who Rule The World Mentoring Weekend. For more information about The Steve Harvey Mentoring Program for Young Men, The Girls Who Rule The World Mentoring Weekend or to make a donation, please visit www.smharveyfoundation.org.

About Choice Hotels
Choice Hotels International, Inc. franchises more than 6,300 hotels, representing more than 500,000 rooms, in the United States and more than 35 other countries and territories. As of September 30, 2014, 422 hotels, representing more than 32,000 rooms, were under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in the United States. Additionally, 94 hotels, representing approximately 8,600 rooms, were under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development in more than 15 other countries and territories. The company's Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria hotels & suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn brands, as well as its Ascend Hotel Collection membership program, serve guests worldwide.

Choice Hotels, Choice Hotels International, Choice Privileges, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria hotels & suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, and Ascend Hotel Collection are proprietary trademarks and service marks of Choice Hotels International, Inc.

Additional corporate information can be found on the Choice Hotels International, Inc. web site, which may be accessed at www.choicehotels.com.

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SOURCE Choice Hotels International, Inc.