Thousands of Aramark employees join global effort to empower families to lead healthier lives and gain job skills

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Employees from Aramark, the $15 billion global provider of award-winning services in food, facilities management and uniforms, are volunteering across the globe tomorrow to help families in underserved communities succeed by inspiring them to lead healthy lives and empowering them to obtain valuable job skills. 

"For us, our mission of enriching and nourishing lives begins with our connection to our communities," said Eric J. Foss, Aramark Chairman, President and CEO. "Today, on Aramark Building Community Day, our associates come together at locations around the world as a powerful demonstration of our year-round passion for service. Aramark associates are doers and by bringing to bear the skills and talents of our workforce we can make a real difference on some of the critical issues facing families and communities."

Hundreds of projects will take place in countries around the world, including the U.S. and Canada, Chile, Peru, China, Korea, Ireland and the U.K.  For example:

• In 12 cities, large-scale projects with 100 to 200 volunteers will take place at neighborhood organizations, where employees will spend a full day empowering people to lead healthier lives and/or gain critical workforce skills. Projects will take place in Atlanta, Beijing, Charlotte, N.C., Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Nashville, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington, D.C. in addition to multi-site projects across Chile and the U.K.
  
• In Philadelphia, the home of Aramark's global headquarters, volunteers will create a Healthy for Life® Zone for community wellness at Congreso in North Philadelphia, inspiring families to make healthier food choices through educational workshops by dietitians and healthy food samplings led by our chefs. Employees will also assemble thousands of healthy meal kits to distribute to residents.
  
• More than 500 employees in Chile will volunteer at 12 separate projects across the country in partnership with the Coanil Foundation, which helps children, youth and adults with intellectual disabilities. Volunteers will create places for children and adults to grow fresh food, provide nutritious meals, and share information about leading healthy lifestyles.
  
• Chicago-area employees will help people learn job skills for the hospitality industry and find employment by establishing a workforce center at Casa Central's La Posada location. Volunteers will create a new workforce clothing closet, provide workforce readiness training sessions and hold a series of other activities to help people succeed in the job market.
  
• Projects will take place across the U.K. – in Kirkcaldy, London, Birmingham, Leeds, Farnborough, Aberdeen and Holybourne. At Treloars School in Holybourne, an all-day health and wellbeing program will be presented by Aramark volunteers.
  
• As part of our commitment with the American Heart Association to improve the health of Americans by 20% by 2020, we will implement Simple Cooking with Heart to educate communities about healthy eating, a key component of the recently launched Healthy for Life® 20 By 20 initiative.

"Aramark volunteers are empowering people to make healthy choices and gain job skills, making a difference in the lives of children and families," said Susan Dreyfus, president and CEO of the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, a national network of nonprofit human-serving organizations and a long-time Aramark partner. "These organizations not only benefit from the time, energy, and expertise of Aramark volunteers, but also their local connections, networks, and willingness to support the organization throughout the year. Together, these organizations and Aramark create employment opportunities and improve the health of communities."

Today's effort is part of Aramark Building Community, the company's global volunteer and philanthropic program. Since 2008, Aramark has invested more than $9 million in expertise, financial and in-kind resources to strengthen communities. More than 30,000 employees have dedicated their skills through hundreds of volunteer projects impacting millions of people.  

About Aramark
Aramark (NYSE: ARMK) is in the customer service business across food, facilities and uniforms, wherever people work, learn, recover, and play. United by a passion to serve, our more than 270,000 employees deliver experiences that enrich and nourish the lives of millions of people in 21 countries around the world every day. Aramark is recognized among the Most Admired Companies by FORTUNE and the World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. Learn more at www.Aramark.com/abcday or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Media Contact:
Mary Rucci, Aramark
215-238-7110

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