January 13, 2014 – In January 2013 Lafrance Hospitality Company (LHC) launched a brand new health and wellness initiative for the company’s 500 employees. LHC owns Christian’s Catering and five restaurant/banquet facilities: White’s of Westport, Ten Cousins Brick Oven, Rachel’s Lakeside, Bittersweet Farm Restaurant and Tavern and the Waypoint Event Center at the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott. It also owns the Hampton Inn & Suites of Plymouth, MA., the Comfort Inn & Suites of Dover, New Hampshire, and the Comfort Inn & Suites of Farmington/Wilton, Maine. The company owns or operates two Hampton Inns, in Westport, MA., and Dover, New Hampshire, as well as a Homewood Suites by Hilton, in Dover, New Hampshire. Most recently, the company built and opened a Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott, in New Bedford, MA and has acquired a Holiday Inn Express in Milford, MA.
LHC was ecstatic to be chosen as a not only as a partnering employer, but as a Wellness Champion Employer in the Greater Fall River and Greater New Bedford area, with Southcoast Healthy Housing and Workplace Initiative – a Community Transformation Grant through Voices for a Healthy Southcoast (SCHHWI), hosted by YMCA Southcoast. We have benefited greatly from the hard working leadership team of the initiative. The wellness program began when the company joined forces with the Fall River Fitness Challenge, which greatly benefited many of the South Coast area employees. LHC’s Dover, NH properties created a similar challenge that received a great response of participants and resulted in most employees losing more than 10% of their body weight in just a few short months. Employees supported each other and encouraged one another to follow through and stick with the healthy changes they were making.
To keep the momentum going following the challenge, LHC conducted an employee health and wellness survey to discover the needs and desires of its hard working employees. As a result, the company has begun offering wellness program, coordinated by SCHHWI Wellness Coordinator, Nicky D’Abrosca, such as kickboxing, women’s self defense, stretch classes and more. This fitness challenge is part of SCHHWI’s HEAL (Healthy Living Active Living) mission to support local employers in making a healthy environment for all A monthly newsletter is distributed to educate and inform all employees on the programs being offered as well as sharing healthy tips and recipes. The newsletter often highlights employees who have participated in a local fitness event, either with with other LHC employees or on their own. Lafrance Hospitality is proud of their employees and happy that they are taking the appropriate steps to achieving a healthier lifestyle.
“I strongly feel that as our company grows and has the ability to employ more people from many communities, our obligation to provide a companywide health and wellness program is key to everyone’s success. As a true hospitality company all team members that feel great about themselves convey that same feeling to our many guest every day. We have been pleasantly excited about our staff’s participation in many of our initiatives” said Richard Lafrance, CEO. “Through the grant, SCHHWI will tackle some of the biggest health challenges in this region – heart and lung disease, along with other smoking-related illnesses. SCHHWI will build community leadership and work with housing authorities, landlords and employers in the region to eliminate tobacco exposure in multi-unit housing – especially public housing – and on the campuses of mental health and addiction treatment facilities as well as other workplace campuses. We are thrilled to have LHC as one of our many partners. They have truly invested in the overall wellbeing of their employees and championed “said Alice Rebelo, Community Transformation Grant Project Manager.