Two $25 000 Grants will assist up-and-coming athletes to pursue olympic dreams-Sibling U.S. Olympians in Taekwondo for Beijing and New York School children kick-off announcement.

Today at the Build-a-Bear Workshop store on 5th Avenue in New York, Embassy Suites Hotels announced a commitment of $50,000 towards United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Olympic Opportunity Fund grants. U.S. Olympic athletes in Taekwondo – siblings, Steven, Diana and Mark Lopez – were on hand along with 52 school children from the Bronx's PS 179 School of International Cultures to announce the grants.

"As the first corporate sponsor of the USOC Olympic Opportunity Fund, we jumped on this opportunity to give our guests the chance to not only support the U.S. Olympic teams of 2008, but the Olympic teams of the future," said John Lee, vice president, brand marketing and communications, Embassy Suites Hotels.

Embassy Suites' "Giving Rising Athletes New Tomorrows" (G.R.A.N.T) grants are designed to help expand U.S. Olympic and Paralympic community-based athletic programs in low socioeconomic areas. To show its Olympic spirit, the Embassy Suites brand has partnered with Build-A-Bear Workshop to create an exclusive Build-A-Bear Workshop USOC Panda. When guests book at Embassy Suites with the promotional code of "PBP" for stays between 6/1 – 9/30/08 they will receive two USOC Pandas made by Build-A-Bear Workshop exclusively for Embassy Suites Hotels, plus a $5 beary special offer.

Dubbed "the first family" of taekwondo, the Lopez siblings are members of the Hilton Family's U.S. Olympic Team "be hospitable" U.S. Athlete Ambassadors. The group, comprised of U.S. Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, aims to extend global hospitality expertise to U.S. Olympians and Paralympians offering important tips on Chinese customs, culture and etiquette in preparation for the upcoming Beijing Games. The Lopez family made sports history in 2005, by becoming the first trio of siblings to win world championships in the same sport in the same year. The trio will be the first family since 1904 to have three siblings compete for the same U.S. Olympic Team in the same sport.

"We are thrilled to have Embassy Suites Hotels play such a large role in this initiative this year," said Rick Burton, Chief Marketing Officer of the USOC. "It's great to find a company so committed to youth and help spread the Olympic spirit throughout communities across the country."

In its second year, the USOC grassroots national initiative -- Olympic Opportunity Fund -- plans to expand its reach. In 2007, these grants reached more than 10,000 youth, and in 2008, with the additional Embassy Suites G.R.A.N.T.s it expects to reach thousands more. Grants will be announced by June 12, 2008.