Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel from the Greek Island of Astypalea received on February 24, 2020 the Gold Hellenic Responsible Business Award in the category of Collaboration with the local Communities for its Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Initiative “Kallichoron Room2Give” for actively supporting the local community projects with special focus on Astypalea’s younger generation, but also the protection of the environment and the responsible use of the available resources.
Various green offerings and give aways as part of Kallichoron Goes Green initiative, like fairtrade cotton bag, local handpicked herbal tea, Kallichoron Green Stories initiative with Taf coffee as an attempt to reuse used coffee beans, organic, locally produce soap or Kallichoron bike rental program.
Kallichoron introduced the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) “Room2Give” initiative in 2015, and since then, with the help from its visitors, it has actively been involved in a number of activities for children and young adults and cultural activities where possible, including:
Purchase of books for the children's lending library of the Astypalea Nursery and Narkissios Lending Library of Astypalea.
Scholarship for young students for studies on Tourism in collaboration with IST College and Axion Hellas.
Providing the courtyard area of the Astypalean Nursery with equipment and toys, and continuous support of the teachers and the Parents and Guardians Association efforts to improve existing infrastructure.
Day of creative work and painting at the Nursery school of Astypalea with the painter
and artist, Gefso Papadakis, on "I paint the world I dream of".Support of Axion Hellas and +plefsi activities.
Beach cleaning initiatives in collaboration with HELMEPA.
Kallichoron active participation and support in beach cleaning activities organized either locally or as part of wider environmental activities.
For the last year, Kallichoron has started collecting funds for establishing a Robotics school on Astypalea Island, which will be a project with huge impact to the local society.
The Hellenic Responsible Business Awards is the first significant initiative of promotion and reward of Greek Businesses, who choose to do “the right thing” and lead by example by implementing on a daily basis actions to protect the environment, to support marginalized communities and to empower life-long learning. The ceremony took place in the Pireos 138, Benaki Museum on February 24, 2020 and was presented by the journalist Elena Papadimitriou.
Chairman of the jury was George Vernicos, Economic and Social Council of Greece. Among the winners of the evening were Vodafone, KPMG, Mitilineos Group, Greek Gold, Lafarge and Hellenic Petroleum, while Mr. Adonis Georgiadis, Minister of Development and Investment, addressed the audience and welcomed the awarded initiatives for their activities.
Maria Mavroudi and Carolina Alkalai, co-founders and General Managers of Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel receiving the Gold Hellenic Responsible Business Awards 2020.
“We are delighted to receive this Award, which is special to us, as it reflects our commitment to work towards sustainable tourism, support local community and welfare. Purpose defines the identity of a business and the reason it exists, forming the benchmark to every decision. At Kallichoron, and as we grow as a hotel business, what drives everything we do is our collective and individual commitment to operate in a responsible manner and in line with our values. The trust of our guests, community and our people place at Kallichoron, alongside our high standards to ethical behavior, is fundamental to our actions and this award encourages us to work harder." said Maria Mavroudi, co-founder and General Manager of Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel.
Carolina Alkalai, co-founder and Hotel Manager of Kallichoron continued "This award is yet another incentive to continue offering great, innovative services to our guests, in a sustainable manner and with responsibility. Thank you for your support all these years, and we hope we don’t ever disappoint!”
Notably, Kallichoron Art Boutique Hotel has also been awarded for Best Greek Hotel at the Greek Tourism Awards that were held last year at the famous Golden Hall, known as the Nobel’s Hall, in Stockholm. Nevertheless, Kallichoron‘s personalized breakfast service known as “Grandma’s Breakfast” was also named Best Greek Hotel Breakfast at the Greek Hospitality Awards 2019.