WoodGreen Community Services, an organization that provides critical social services to 37,000 individuals and families across Toronto every year, will receive a much-deserved facelift from hard-working volunteers at ARAMARK, Canada’s leading professional services company with nearly 12,000 employees coast-to-coast.

The event is part of ARAMARK Building Community, an initiative that fosters long-term support for local community centres in more than 25 cities globally. This is the first ARAMARK Building Community service project in Canada.

On Wednesday, Sept. 16, 100 ARAMARK employee volunteers will help transform the facilities at WoodGreen Community Services, including the creation of a library and reading area for the organization’s After-4 program. Other projects include sanding and re-painting outdoor climbing equipment, painting a variety of outdoor murals, and landscaping the outside area with new flower beds. This project coincides with back-to-school in Toronto, providing children of the After-4 program with an enhanced and alternative learning environment at the centre to kick off the 2009-2010 school year.

ARAMARK Building Community Volunteer Refurbishment Project

The current economic landscape places more importance on quality social services than ever before. Organizations like WoodGreen Community Services are on the front lines in addressing some of Canada’s most pressing social issues, including poverty, education, joblessness, obesity, youth development and caring for aging seniors.

The WoodGreen After-4 program provides support for 40 children, ages 5 to 13, who live in South Riverdale, a Toronto community that has been struggling with poverty and unemployment. WoodGreen’s After-4 Program focuses on helping children who have been hardest hit - many of the children in WoodGreen’s After-4 Program live below the poverty line, in single-parent homes, and are on social assistance or working ‘survival jobs’ just to get by. These children are most at risk of experiencing violence, and of dropping out of school. WoodGreen’s After-4 program levels the playing field for children, ensuring that they get access to the same quality of academic and recreational programming as their peers.

“Our partnership with ARAMARK couldn’t have come at a better time, with many companies cutting back on donations to charities right now,” says Kate Halpenny, Executive Director of The WoodGreen Foundation. “The generosity and support from ARAMARK will add much-needed enhancements to the center that would not have otherwise happened.

“Partnering with local community centres is a natural fit for ARAMARK,” says Brian Struthers, senior vice president of operations, ARAMARK Healthcare, and ARAMARK Building Community executive sponsor for the Greater Toronto Area. “Our focus on communities is about connection—linking our expertise, resources and time to help neighbours in need. We are proud of this new partnership with WoodGreen Community Services, which will allow us to collectively support the Toronto community in a meaningful way.”

ARAMARK will continue to work with WoodGreen Community Services to strengthen existing programs. Employee volunteers will offer expertise and resources to help individuals and families lead a healthier lifestyle through nutrition and wellness education; prepare and connect youth and adults to the workforce; and provide basic services, such as access to food, clothing and sustainable environments.

About WoodGreen Community Services
WoodGreen Community Services takes an integrated, client-centered approach to building a better Toronto. Together, with our many partners, we offer innovative, long-term solutions to the most critical social issues facing our city today. Some of the key areas we focus on include homelessness, poverty, chronic unemployment, childcare, support for seniors and services for new immigrants.

About ARAMARK Building Community
ARAMARK Building Community enriches the lives of families in need by supporting local community centers to help people of all generations learn, earn and thrive. ARAMARK recognizes the important role community centers play in addressing the comprehensive needs of individuals and families and is providing a range of resources including grants, volunteers and in-kind contributions. Through ARAMARK Building Community, volunteers will use their expertise to help youth and adults develop critical, employable work skills and connect them to career opportunities; support families with nutrition and wellness education; provide basic needs such as food and clothing; and help identified partners run cleaner, safer and more efficient facilities to enhance and strengthen the Center’s programs on an ongoing basis.

About ARAMARK
ARAMARK is a leader in professional services, providing award-winning food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to health care institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, and businesses around the world. In FORTUNE magazine's 2009 list of "World's Most Admired Companies," ARAMARK was ranked number one in its industry, consistently ranking since 1998 as one of the top three most admired companies in its industry as evaluated by peers and analysts. ARAMARK seeks to responsibly address issues that matter to its clients, customers, employees and communities by focusing on employee advocacy, environmental stewardship, health and wellness, and community involvement. Headquartered in Philadelphia, ARAMARK has approximately 260,000 employees serving clients in 22 countries. Learn more at www.twitter.com/aramarknews.

Contacts:
Woodgreen Community Services Contact
Jessica Malone
416-645-6000 ext. 41015
jmalone@woodgreen.org

Media Contact
Emily Donohue, Allison & Partners
646-428-0622
Emily@allisonpr.com