With colorful bags of snacks and thank you cards, about 180 children went to five hotels to recognize the hard work of the hotel staffs during the convention, and give something back to them.

“This is our way of saying thank you to a group of people that oftentimes aren’t thanked and to tell them they are special,” said Carol Grieser, the convention’s children coordinator.

At the Hyatt Regency Hotel, connected to the convention center, about 44 children in kindergarten and first grade offered their bags to nine hotel workers.

Before giving the staff their bags, the children sang “I’m gonna sing,” “This is the day that the Lord has made,” “God is good” and a “thank you” song. With smiles, the appreciative staff applauded after each song. The children also offered a prayer for the staff.

And after the songs and prayer, the children said “thank you” one last time as loud as they could while people looked on from the balcony hanging over the lobby.

Maurice Cunningham, a lobby attendant, said this is the first time anyone had ever done anything like that for the hotel staff in his 12 years working at the Hyatt.

Along with the Hyatt, the second and third grades went to the Crowne Royal Hotel and the Drury Inn, and the fourth and fifth graders went to the Hampton and the Red Roof Inn.

This is the third convention that children performed a “random act of kindness” by thanking hotel staff; it first took place at the 2005 convention in Charlotte.

“This is the children’s service progject,” Grieser said.

“I wish all our groups did this for us,” one hotel worker said with a smile.