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Volunteers assemble HOPE Kits at a community service event, working around tables filled with pink tissue-lined boxes and care package supplies. Several participants sort materials and pack items into boxes as part of a breast cancer support initiative.
News | Community

Aramark Volunteers Pack More than 450 HOPE Kits for Breast Cancer Patients Nationwide

October 30, 2026

   

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, hundreds of Aramark team members across six states came together in October for the company’s fifth annual HOPE Kit packing event. Led by Aramark Community Relations in partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and EMPOWER, Aramark’s employee resource group (ERG) for women and allies, the initiative produced more than 450 comfort packages for people recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

Volunteers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Rockville, Maryland; Nashville, Tennessee; Portland, Oregon; Phoenix, Arizona; and Mobeetie, Texas, filled kits with comfort items, personal care products, and handwritten notes for patients at the start of their breast cancer journey. All kits were assembled to support the National Breast Cancer Foundation’s HOPE Kit Program.

Employees sit around tables writing notes and assembling encouragement cards during a breast cancer awareness volunteer event. Pink balloons, awareness-themed banners, and refreshments are displayed throughout the room as participants work together on the activity.

“Throughout my sister, Amanda’s, more than 18-year journey with metastatic breast cancer, she received HOPE Kits many times,” said Heather Altieri, vice president, Client Relations, Avendra. “I often sat beside her during chemo treatments, and I will never forget the way her face lit up each time she opened one. In some of the hardest moments of her life, those kits reminded her that she was not alone and that people she had never met were thinking of her. It means so much to me to work for an organization whose associates give their time and their hearts to bring that same comfort to others in the communities where we live and work.” 

At Aramark’s global headquarters in Philadelphia, more than two dozen volunteers packed 50 kits. That effort grew during the Global Supply Chain and GPOs Finance and IT Town Hall, where 220 employees assembled an additional 200 kits and wrote personalized cards of encouragement.

The impact extended far beyond Philadelphia, with similar events taking place across the country as well. In Rockville, 21 associates from multiple lines of business gathered for their annual packing party. In Mobeetie, Aramark Nexus employees led the Texas project and packed 50 kits. Volunteers in Nashville also packed 50 kits, and teams in Portland and Phoenix packed 25 kits each.

For EMPOWER’s Pacific Hub in Portland, the experience energized the group and strengthened its commitment to community service.

Volunteers stand side by side at a long table assembling HOPE Kits, placing personal care items and resource materials into boxes lined with bright pink tissue paper. Supplies, informational booklets, and completed kits are arranged across the table during a community service event.
Volunteers stand on both sides of a long table assembling care packages during a large-scale community service event. Open cardboard boxes lined with pink tissue paper, personal care items, pens, and booklets labeled “HOPE” are arranged across the table as participants work together in a convention center hallway.
A volunteer holds an open HOPE Kit box lined with pink tissue paper and filled with personal care items during a community service event. Additional volunteers and partially assembled kits are visible in the conference room background.
Volunteers assemble care packages at a long table in a conference room, placing personal care items, pens, and informational materials into pink tissue-lined boxes. Stacks of supplies are arranged across the table as participants work together during a community service project.

The HOPE Kit packing event reflects Aramark’s broader commitment to community impact and its dedication to service, supporting causes that matter deeply to its employees. The effort was made possible through a collaboration between Aramark Community Relations and EMPOWER, whose leaders and volunteers helped coordinate packing events across multiple locations.

“We’re proud that EMPOWER members across the country came together for the HOPE Kit event, with our hubs in Oregon, Arizona, Maryland, Tennessee/Kentucky, and Philadelphia leading volunteer efforts for this meaningful cause,” said Katie Davis. “Our hubs are the heartbeat of EMPOWER, bringing our mission to life through service and creating opportunities for members to make a difference in the communities we serve.”

Several volunteers assemble pink-themed care packages at a table covered with supplies, folding white boxes and packing personal care items during a community service event in a meeting room.

For more information about the National Breast Cancer Foundation and its HOPE Kit Program, visit nationalbreastcancer.org.

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