The Covid-19 crisis has hit the hospitality industry particularly hard, and Woodloch Pines, an all-inclusive family resort located in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, is no exception. The property closed its doors back in mid-March with hopes to reopen on May 22, but with much still unknown, Woodloch refused to simply stand by and wait. Having been in business for 62 years, the Poconos resort has emerged triumphant from its fair share of challenges, never shying away from difficult times and always working to turn negatives into positives.
Family-owned and operated since 1958, Woodloch’s core mission is built upon treating guests and staff like “company in our homes.” Although the property remains shuttered, it has been working hard to maintain the Woodloch spirit for guests, staff and the entire community in an effort to spread light in a time of darkness. Initiatives include the following:
- The launch of Woodloch at Home, a treasure trove of activities and games that can be accessed remotely through both the resort’s website and social media channels. Activities include tried and true guest favorites such as scavenger hunts, “Olympics,” game show and athletic contests, deejay-led dance parties and even a “Concert on the Couch” series, featuring a diverse array of talent acts performed by both guests and employees. All programming takes place digitally so that individual families can remain in the privacy of their own homes while staying connected with Woodloch’s energetic staffers as well as each other.
- On March 21, The Woodloch Family gave each of its 950 hourly team members an additional week’s worth of wages to compensate them during the first week of shutdown from March 16 – 22.
- The Woodloch Family hosted two separate food drives, one on March 26 and the other on April 10, where they distributed over 800 care packages to staff members. These included an assortment of items such as pasta, meat, milk, eggs, juice, canned goods, toilet paper, baked goods from the resort’s in-house bakery as well as salad greens and herb bundles from the organic farm at Woodloch’s destination spa. An additional 300 packages were donated to local Pike and Wayne County food shelters.
- Woodloch donated all of its available N95 respirator masks to the local community hospital, Wayne Memorial. Additionally, Woodloch’s bakery distributed care packages to hospital staff, local urgent care, and local EMS on Friday, April 17.
- Woodloch owns and operates a stand-alone restaurant, The Boat House, in downtown Hawley, PA, and they have been providing a free weekly meal to Pennsylvania State Police from the nearby Blooming Grove station.
- As part of its new program, “Goodwill Fridays,” the family resort will host charitable acts in the community every Friday during the crisis and beyond. On May 1st, Woodloch supplied four of their local volunteer fire departments with of an assortment of homemade baked goods.
“Our tagline, ‘Together is the best place to be,’ has never rang more true. We are a family here at Woodloch, and that sentiment extends not only to our staff but also to our community. When bad things happen, we want to do everything we can to offer a helping hand,” said Brad Kiesendahl, C.E.O. of Woodloch Pines. “We extend our immense thanks to all of the frontline workers out there who are working tirelessly to combat this crisis. We wish everyone health and safety and look forward to much brighter days ahead.”
To obtain more information, please visit https://www.woodloch.com/woodloch-at-home/ and https://www.woodloch.com/woodloch-in-the-community/.
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