News | Community

For National Volunteer Month in April, Aramark Employees Worked to Conserve Our Environment, Reduce Food Insecurity, and Build More Sustainable Communities

May 1, 2022

   

Thousands of Aramark employees volunteer each year to build vibrant, sustainable communities worldwide.

That focus on volunteering is aligned with our sustainability plan, Be Well. Do Well., which focuses on reducing inequity, supporting and growing communities, and protecting the planet in meaningful and impactful ways. Read more in our 2021 Impact Report.

In 2021, Aramark employee volunteers supported more than 250,000 people, impacted more than 600 nonprofit organizations, and hosted nearly 140 volunteer projects.

April 2022—both National Volunteer Month and Earth Month—provided an opportunity for our volunteers to lead projects in the communities in which we live and work.

“From environmental conservation efforts to community clean-up and beautification projects, Earth Month provided so many opportunities for Aramark volunteers to roll up their sleeves to help support and grow vibrant local communities,” said Jami Leveen, Aramark’s Vice President of Community Partnerships. “Our volunteers bring our company mission to life throughout the year by demonstrating a true passion for doing great things for our people, our partners, our communities, and our planet.”

Below are just a few of the ways our people gave back.

Volunteers Congreso Philadelphia

“Our volunteers bring our company mission to life by demonstrating a true passion for doing great things for our people, our partners, our communities, and our planet.”

- Jami Leveen, Vice President, Community Partnerships

 

Environmental Sustainability and Conservation

  • On the Colorado River, teams spent a day on the water picking up trash from Glen Canyon Dam to Lees Ferry.
  • In Arizona, we worked with Lake Powell School staff and students to plant trees and shrubs on campus and renovated the school's greenhouse.
  • At Yosemite National Park, we held a recycling drive for textiles, light bulbs, batteries, paint cans, cleaning chemicals, and other often hard to recycle materials.
  • We helped the non-profit Parkdale Food Centre in Ottawa create a reusable food container program for the community meals they serve.
  • We joined community partner Journey to Dream to clean up streets, work on a community garden, and educate people on how to reduce, reuse, and recycle in the Lewisville, Texas area.

Community Clean-Up and Beautification

  • Volunteers worked to clean up North Carolina’s Salem Creek Greenway and an adjacent beach area.
  • Teams landscaped, built a pollinator garden, constructed a farm pantry, and repaired recreation areas at Philadelphia’s Community Learning Farm which provides affordable, healthy food to nearby families and learning opportunities to teens. The projects were a joint effort with Aramark, City Year, the Federation of Neighborhood Centers, and the Philadelphia Parks Department.
  • Volunteers helped Congreso de Latinos Unidos in Philadelphia upgrade their campus courtyard to create more usable outdoor space.
Aramark volunteers food

Nutrition and Food Insecurity

  • Aramark employees organized a non-perishable food drive in Chicago along with 5 Loaves Co-Op, a church-based program that provides fresh produce and donated food items to community members.
  • Volunteers worked with the Tarrant Area Food Bank in Texas to create healthy snack boxes for local food pantries and families in need.
  • To address food insecurity on college campuses nationwide, we are working with Food Recovery Network and The Farmlink Project to research best ways to identify and recover surplus food and distribute it to those struggling with hunger.