Orlando Hotelier Gives Free Week’s Stay to Philanthropy-Minded College Students on “Alternative” Spring Break

For Second Year, Hotelier Harris Rosen Invited Cornell Univ. 

Students to Work with Orlando’s Disadvantaged Youth 

For more information, contact:
Mary Deatrick, DPR
407-332-5212, mary@deatrickpr.com

ORLANDO (April 20, 2009) – For the second year in a row, while most Orlando hotels were focused on filling rooms at maximum nightly rates during the busy spring break season, one Orlando hotelier and philanthropist was giving away rooms for free — at a AAA Four-Diamond property, no less. 

Harris Rosen, President & COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts in Orlando, recently hosted a group of nine Cornell University college students for one week at the luxurious Rosen Shingle Creek hotel. The students visited Orlando as part of an Alternative Breaks program and spent their school holiday mentoring at-risk elementary, middle and high school students in Tangelo Park, a disadvantaged Orlando neighborhood. This marks the second year that Cornell students have visited Orlando with the program.

The Tangelo Park neighborhood is a cause near and dear to Harris Rosen’s heart — in 1994, he created the Tangelo Park Pilot Program to benefit children and teens in the once drug- and crime-riddled neighborhood. The three-fold educational community service initiative provides free preschool for every two-, three- and four-year-old child living in the Tangelo Park neighborhood, full college or vocational school scholarships for every graduating high school senior in the area, as well as a Neighborhood Center for Families at which parents can take parenting courses and obtain counseling and other resources to help them become positive role models for their children.

The collegians spent their days mentoring students at Tangelo Park Elementary, Southwest Middle School and Dr. Phillips High School and worked with preschool students at various Tangelo Park daycare facilities. They spent their nights at Rosen’s luxurious AAA Four-Diamond hotel, Rosen Shingle Creek, and dined for free at Rosen Shingle Creek restaurants, including the classic steakhouse, A Land Remembered. The students’ entire one-week stay, excluding airfare, was sponsored by Harris Rosen and the Rosen Foundation.

“Each year, I am amazed by the selflessness and enthusiasm of the Cornell students who give up their spring break to work with disadvantaged youth,” said Rosen. “This group of students worked enthusiastically and tirelessly each day to lighten the load of the teachers and brighten the days of the children. I look forward to hearing about the great things they will undoubtedly accomplish in the years ahead.”

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Cornell students learned about Rosen’s Tangelo Park initiative after the philanthropist spoke at an entrepreneurial program at the university three years ago. After students inquired about how they could help, the Ivy League University then added Tangelo Park as one of seven locations for Alternative Breaks, a program designed to provide student volunteers the opportunity to participate in alcohol and drug-free, community-based service trips during their spring and winter breaks.

Participants in the Alternative Breaks program engage in reciprocal service in communities with whom they otherwise may have had little or no direct contact with, learning about a variety of social issues, such as urban and rural poverty, racism, hunger, homelessness, the environment, domestic violence and juvenile delinquency. Students are immersed in culturally enriching experiences that challenge them to think critically about the social and environmental issues that shape society. 

After a private welcome dinner with the project’s planning committee: Harris Rosen, Dr. Robert Allen, Alberta Masmoudi, Chuck Dziuban and Marcella Bush, the volunteers began their busy week. While at Tangelo Park Elementary, the college students spent their mornings in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms, working with students and assisting teachers. One morning was spent creating art projects with youngsters at several of the Rosen-sponsored daycare providers. Afternoons were spent working on various service projects for the school, working with special areas students in physical education, art, music and computers, and mentoring high school students from Dr. Phillips High School. The group also spent an afternoon at the Tangelo Park YMCA interacting with tots and daycare providers while enjoying a musical performance by the Tangelo Park Elementary School chorus. 

The students’ busy week continued with an evening of science activities with Southwest Middle School students, Tangelo Park Elementary School students and children from the 2, 3 and 4-year-old program, with participation from the Orlando Science Center. On Friday afternoon, the college students participated in a Reflection Session with the planning team and then enjoyed a Friday evening appreciation banquet, which was attended by the planning team, principals from participating schools, Orange County Public School officials, and Harris Rosen.

During their week in Orlando, the student volunteers also enjoyed a day of free time to enjoy the theme parks, shopping and other attractions. While at Rosen Shingle Creek, they received complimentary meals at the hotel’s many restaurants, including A Land Remembered.

About the Tangelo Park Pilot Program

To date, 358 teens who have graduated from high school have received full college or vocational school scholarships and 367 children have participated in the free preschool program. They are now in elementary school, in middle school and a few are freshmen in high school. Forty-eight students are currently enrolled in the free preschool program.

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Prior to the program, the vast majority of high school students from Tangelo Park did not go on to college and the drop out rate was close to 60 percent. Today, the high school drop out rate is zero percent and approximately 60 percent go on to college.

Since 1993, Tangelo Park Elementary students’ reading, writing and math scores have steadily increased. And in 2004, 2006 and 2008, the school earned an “A” rating in Florida’s A+ plan and satisfied all the criteria required by the Federal No Child Life Behind Act. 

Presently, the University of Central Florida is involved in a systematic study to determine the costs and benefits of the Tangelo Park Program to determine its return of investment. To date, the return appears to be $7 to society for every $1 spent. 

About Harris Rosen

Harris Rosen, a long-time Orlando resident, is the President and COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts, Florida’s largest independent hotel chain which includes Rosen Shingle Creek, Rosen Plaza, Rosen Centre and four value-priced properties including Quality Inn International, Rodeway Inn International, Quality Inn Plaza and Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista, for a total of approximately 6,300 guest rooms.

Rosen is a trustee at the University of Central Florida and donated the land and provided the funding to build the UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management. Rosen also donated $3.5 million to build The Jack and Lee Rosen Southwest Orlando Jewish Community Campus, named in honor of his parents. He is an active conservationist and makes many other charitable donations.