A Little MORE Community

SAHARA Las Vegas proudly participated in Las Vegas Restaurant Week to support Three Square Food Bank’s mission to end hunger. Three SAHARA restaurants – Balla Italian Soul, Bazaar Meat, and The Noodle Den – offered curated menus at a special price, with $6 from each menu going directly to Three Square Food Bank. The success of this event will contribute an additional 18,918 meals for the people in our community who need it the most!

On Wednesday, June 7, SAHARA Las Vegas hosted the 2023 Meruelo Family Scholarship award presentation. As part of the property’s SAHARA Cares initiative, a total of $14,000 was awarded to four deserving dependents of SAHARA Las Vegas Team Members. Las Vegas student Helena Saavedra received $5,000 while students Jazmin Rivera, Michelle McGowan and Jazmyn Rebolledo each received $3,000.

From Tuesday, May 16 to Thursday, May 18, deserving 5th grade students from Robert E. Lake Elementary School received the first-annual SAHARA Cares Award. Created by the school to recognize one outstanding student per 5th grade class in honor of SAHARA Las Vegas’ community partnership, the SAHARA Cares Award was presented to individuals embodying the characteristics of the acronym ROAR: respectful, on task, accountable and responsible.

Thanks to the generous monetary donations and the uplifting spirit of volunteerism by SAHARA team members and the Meruelo family, SAHARA Cares is able to not only provide much-needed resources and assistance but it’s also helped empower individuals and families to thrive and prosper. The unwavering commitment of Mr. Alex Meruelo, his family, and the entire SAHARA family, serves as an inspiring example of how we can all work together to create positive change in our community.

On Friday, March 31, several SAHARA Las Vegas Team Members volunteered their time to visit students at Robert E. Lake Elementary School on Career Day. These Team Members presented and discussed their careers with the students, emphasizing the importance of pursuing an education. The school participates in Career Day annually to motivate students and establish the connection between “real life” work experiences and education.

From Monday, Feb. 27 through Friday, March 3, SAHARA Las Vegas Team Members across various departments volunteered their time reading to Robert E. Lake Elementary School students during Nevada Reading Week. For over 30 years, Nevada Reading Week has been celebrated across the Silver State in March to instill a life-long love of reading in students. “Our Lake Lions look up to positive role models such as these professionals and we are thankful they generously donated their time to share the importance of reading and education,” said Paola Zepher, principal, Robert E. Lake Elementary School.

On Monday, Feb. 13, SAHARA Las Vegas team members distributed more than 350 pairs of shoes to underprivileged students at Robert E. Lake Elementary School as part of the property’s SAHARA Cares initiative. The pairs of shoes were donated by SAHARA team members across various departments. Shoes were the main focus but other clothing items were collected, specifically winter apparel. All donated articles of clothing were placed in the school’s clothing closet, the Robert E. Lake Elementary School clothing closet ensures that no students will go without functional clothes.

This holiday season, SAHARA Cares hosted its own Angel Tree program for families in need at our sponsored school, Robert E. Lake Elementary School. Thanks to the generosity of SAHARA Las Vegas Team Members, many of these families will have presents for Christmas. Team Members each chose a family to sponsor, finding and wrapping presents containing a toy and a complete outfit for each child in the family. These gifts will be delivered by SAHARA Team members directly to the homes of these families before Christmas.

It’s been an eventful first year of philanthropic community outreach for SAHARA Cares. 2022 marks the start of SAHARA’s partnership with the Epicurean Charitable Foundation and its sponsorship of Robert E. Lake Elementary School. SAHARA also showed its true colors during Pride Month by becoming an official partner with Las Vegas Pride. Last but not least, SAHARA celebrated its 70th Anniversary with a cake presentation, champagne toast, and a month-long celebration of the property’s history as one of the oldest and most iconic hotels in Las Vegas. SAHARA Las Vegas is looking forward to making even more of a community impact in 2023!

On Friday, Oct. 7, SAHARA Las Vegas continued its ongoing partnership with the Epicurean Charitable Foundation (ECF) by graciously hosting their M.E.N.U.S. fundraising event, along with donating to their scholarship fund. The celebration coincided with SAHARA’s 70th Anniversary and featured a cake presentation and champagne toast inside SAHARA’s AZILO Ultra Lounge. Alexis Meruelo, chief vision and purpose officer for Meruelo Gaming, SAHARA’s parent company, made a surprise $15,000 donation to the ECF, which provides scholarships for students to attend the University of Nevada Las Vegas’ hospitality school.

SAHARA Shows Its True Colors During Pride Weekend in Las Vegas with a 3-Day Celebration
SAHARA Las Vegas showed its true colors during Las Vegas Pride weekend, participating in the festivities from Friday, October 7 to Sunday, October 9. On Friday, SAHARA team members participated in the city’s Pride Parade, proudly marching through Downtown Las Vegas and giving away SAHARA Pride-themed items, such as t-shirts and fans, to parade watchers. On Saturday, SAHARA Team Members hosted a booth at the Las Vegas Pride Festival in Craig Ranch Regional Park. Members of SAHARA’s HR Department and Magic Mike Live cast members were in attendance. The cherry on top to a fantastic Pride weekend was SAHARA hosting the official Pride Pool Party at Retro Pool, where pride partygoers had the time of their lives. SAHARA Las Vegas is a GayTravel Approved hotel and continues to nurture its partnership with Las Vegas Pride.

Backpack Filling Event
 
On July 23, 2022, SAHARA employees volunteered their time to help stuff backpacks with books and school supplies for underprivileged children. The backpacks and school supplies were donated by local organization Foodie Fit, with Robert E. Lake Elementary School hosting the event for three of the schools. This event was done as part of SAHARA Cares initiatives and the backpacks will be distributed to children in need on the first day of school in August.

On July 21, 2022, SAHARA Las Vegas hosted the Meruelo Family Scholarship award presentation inside the Team Member Dining Room and honorary luncheon inside Zeffer’s Café. A total of $12,500 was awarded to five deserving dependents of SAHARA Las Vegas team members. During the event, all five scholarship winners were presented with jumbo $2,500 checks by chief vision and purpose officer Alexis Meruelo and general manager Paul Hobson. The Meruelo Family’s focus on education has fueled both companies’ community impact over the years.

SAHARA Las Vegas Is A Proud Sponsor Of The 2022 Las Vegas Pride Event
 
Join us in celebrating this resilient, bold, and beautiful community.
 
Friday, October 7, 2022 – Pride Walk
Saturday, October, 8, 2022 – Pride Festival
 
To learn more about this amazing organization, the great work they do and to discover how you can get involved, please visit their website.

In May of 2022 we joined Las Vegas Restaurant Week to enhance Three Square Food Bank’s reach. Their mission is to provide meals for families and individuals facing hunger. $6 per menu sold was donated to Three Square to support their efforts. We’re so proud to share that we were able to raise over $5,600 through The Noodle Den and Bazaar Meat By José Andrés to help their efforts. If you would like to learn more about this organization or to support them, please visit threesquare.org

As part of our SAHARA Cares initiatives, we have adopted a local elementary school! Robert E. Lake is a title one school which provides education for disadvantaged, low-achieving, high poverty, and neglected children.

Their mission is to make an impact in the local Las Vegas community by supporting youth education programs and economic mobility for minorities, SAHARA Cares strives to recognize hardworking teachers and their commitment to their students, and it was an honor to host their end-of-year celebration at our AZILO Ultra Pool offering food, beverages and raffle prizes. In the words of the teachers, “it was magical.”

We’re looking forward to supporting the school with a back-to-school drive, food drives, reading to the students, and much, much more!

SAHARA Las Vegas is excited to announce our partnership with the Epicurean Charitable Foundation A charitable organization aimed at awarding full-ride scholarships to deserving students pursuing careers in the hospitality industry.