ARAMARK's Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts

Program Overview/Objectives: As Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans and the Gulf Coast this past summer, ARAMARK found itself on the front lines of relief efforts, with thousands of employees affected, several client locations closed down, and locations across the country asking the company to provide food and other forms of relief for evacuees.

ARAMARK teams on the ground helped their communities nourish, house and otherwise sustain tens of thousands of displaced people. At Houston’s Reliant Park alone, which includes the Reliant Astrodome, ARAMARK served more than 110,000 meals per day and managed basic cleaning and maintenance services for as many as 26,000 evacuees. ARAMARK worked hand in hand with FEMA and the American Red Cross in several locations and was highly praised by the American Red Cross in the weeks that followed.

The ARAMARK Corporate Affairs team immediately mobilized to support our employees, our clients, and the communities where we operate around the country. We prioritized our activities around four objectives:

• Provide timely and accurate information to all of our employees.
• Connect volunteers with ARAMARK locations serving evacuees.
• Create a positive impact both locally and nationally on corporate reputation.
• Dispel early false reports about ARAMARK charging evacuees for food service.

Execution/Tactics: A crisis team was formed and a well-organized, multi-faceted, integrated communications plan was facilitated through daily conference calls with representatives from Internal Communications, Corporate & Community Relations, External Communications, and Government Relations, as well as communications staff on-site at relief locations. In addition, regular smaller team update meetings were held, e-mails exchanged and documents shared through a common network drive.

Corporate and Community Relations: Was the main conduit to put ARAMARK employees and outside volunteers in touch with ARAMARK relief locations nationally (see Section A).

• An employee hotline was established.
• An active grid detailed the status of all ARAMARK locations in affected regions or participating in relief efforts, with respective key contacts.
• Regional e-mail communications were sent to locally based ARAMARK teams, requesting specific volunteer needs.

Internal Communications: Disseminated information to all employees through a variety of outlets. (See Section B.)

• E-mail and voicemail messages from Joe Neubauer, ARAMARK’s CEO, addressed how ARAMARK and its employees were affected by the storm and offered recommendations for how to help.
• Team members traveled to locations where ARAMARK was playing an integral role in relief efforts, including Houston, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. Daily special editions of the employee e-mail newsletter were written by these team members.
• Professional video and photography crews documented the relief efforts in Houston.
• Continuous updates to ARAMARK’s Intranet site offered information regarding the safety of our employees, ways to contribute to relief efforts, and ARAMARK’s corporate donation and matching gifts.

External Communications: Immediately reached out to our field employees to learn the situation in each of the affected regions. (See Section C.)

• An external communications staff member was on the ground in Houston handling all media relations as evacuees arrived in Houston and ARAMARK began to play its most integral role in the relief operations.
• The team kept the media informed about ARAMARK’s efforts to support and comfort evacuees. Media talking points and fact sheets addressing the status of our operations in the affected areas, as well as our role in the relief efforts in Houston and across the country, were distributed both regionally and nationally.
• To supplement HR’s efforts to locate employees, the company’s external website was updated regularly with information for employees regarding the employee hotline, payroll and benefit information, and ways to contribute to the relief efforts. Information regarding ARAMARK’s corporate donation and operations in the wake of the hurricane was housed here, as well as links to FEMA and the Red Cross.
• As rumors and misconceptions began to circulate claiming ARAMARK was charging evacuees for food service at the Astrodome, the team worked to dispel these false reports by responding to the news reports and one-on-one inquiries.

Government Relations: Coordinated communications with relevant government officials to help further represent who ARAMARK is, what ARAMARK does and what ARAMARK stands for. Letters detailing ARAMARK’s role in the relief efforts with an enclosed fact sheet were sent to pertinent government officials, including U.S. congressmen, representatives and senators in the affected areas where ARAMARK has operations. (See Section D.)

Evaluation/Results:

Objective: Provide timely and accurate information to all of our employees.

• Affected employees were directed in multiple ways to resources for payroll and benefit issues, as well as corporate and individual donation information.
• The amount of positive employee feedback received by the Corporate Affairs department was overwhelming. The team repackaged the employee feedback and shared with the operations teams aiding the relief efforts, who in turn shared it with volunteers. (See Section B.)

Objective: Connect volunteers with ARAMARK locations serving evacuees.

• Targeted emails to regional ARAMARK employee distribution lists requesting volunteers enabled the ARAMARK teams on-site at 22 locations across the country to serve over 160,000 meals daily to 53,500 evacuees—clearly an example of communications playing a critical role in successful operations.

Objective: Create a positive impact both locally and nationally on corporate reputation.

• greatest ambassadors for your corporation are your own employees. Creating a sense of pride in the organization amongst them is the first step in fostering your overall corporate reputation. The samples of employee feedback represent this success. (See Section B.)
• ARAMARK received positive responses in most one-on-one email exchanges with concerned citizens.
• Positive news stories appeared in several outlets, including: Associated Press; USA Today; New York Times; Houston Chronicle; Philadelphia Inquirer; Washington Post; Houston Business Journal; Philadelphia Business Journal; Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Contra Costa Times; Rocky Mountain News; and Nation’s Restaurant News. (See Section C.)
• Numerous government contacts sent positive responses to personalized letters from the company. ARAMARK was also included on government-sponsored lists of relief partners. (See Section D.)
• J. Evans, President and CEO of the American Red Cross, had this to say about ARAMARK: “We are grateful that ARAMARK and ARAMARK employees have chosen the Red Cross as your way to reach out to those whose lives were disrupted by Hurricane Katrina. Because of your help, the Red Cross can supply the shelter, food, emotional support and longer-term recovery assistance that thousands so badly need.”

Objective: Dispel early false reports about ARAMARK charging evacuees for food service.

• Regular communication with the Houston Chronicle, and local Houston television affiliates, regarding policies for food donations at the Astrodome helped end rumors and clarified ARAMARK’s position as a partner of the Red Cross. Feedback from local media and concerned citizens was positive and supportive after such clarification, and many said they felt better about ARAMARK as a company.
• Our accurate position was clearly stated in all of our proactive communications shared with employees, government constituents and the media, including on the external Web site.