ARAMARK Expands Commitment to City Year

Enhanced three-year partnership will help support student and community success through In School & On Track

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--City Year and ARAMARK today announced an expanded three-year, multi-faceted partnership that includes financial and in-kind resources valued at $3.75 million that will support “In School & On Track,” City Year’s national initiative to address the nation’s dropout crisis. The relationship aligns ARAMARK and City Year’s shared organizational values, commitment to service, and vision of community and student success.

“This partnership represents a mutual dedication to enriching communities through service, and increasing the positive role that community centers play in providing children and families with positive places to engage with their communities”

“We are proud to continue our relationship with City Year for an additional three years,” said Andrew Kerin, ARAMARK Group President, Global Food, Hospitality and Facility Services, and City Year, Inc. Trustee. “The power of our partnership stems from the value our two organizations can continue to build by mobilizing the talent and energy of citizens to enrich communities so children and families succeed. ARAMARK and City Year’s shared commitment to help young people make a difference and develop into strong leaders is something that we are honored to be a part of.”

ARAMARK is extending its support as a National Leadership Sponsor and investing support from the company, the ARAMARK Charitable Fund and in-kind resources to grow City Year’s School Relations Knowledge Center. The Center will guide City Year’s strategy to build and maintain relationships with America’s highest-need schools by learning from ARAMARK’s experience. It will also reinforce the ARAMARK and City Year commitment to enhance non-academic factors impacting student success including healthy and productive environments, proper nourishment and near-peer mentoring, which improve learning conditions and ensure that students are ready to learn, grow, and flourish.

Since the partnership began in 2007, ARAMARK has provided resources to help strengthen City Year’s organizational capacity to help it grow and demonstrate impact. The company helps lead a City Year task force focused on human resource practices and has made significant contributions to its leadership development initiatives. ARAMARK helped create the LEAD City Year program, which has built talent within the organization to fill 75 percent of City Year’s open executive-level positions.

“From the beginning, ARAMARK has consistently brought ideas and resources that demonstrate our shared commitment to the success of children and communities and empowering people to make a difference,” City Year CEO and Co-Founder Michael Brown said. “Young adults serving full-time with City Year help turn around low-performing schools and close the educational achievement gap. With ARAMARK’s added expertise and ongoing support, City Year is building its capacity to develop young leaders and strengthening City Year’s organizational impact to reach more of the off-track students in communities across the U.S.”

ARAMARK also supports City Year’s corps member recruitment marketing campaign on more than 350 college campuses, and serves as City Year’s official apparel partner. As part of its signature philanthropic and volunteer program ARAMARK Building Community, City Year corps members, young adults ages 17-24, who are specially trained to design and implement high-impact community service projects, volunteer alongside ARAMARK employees to strengthen community centers across the country.

“This partnership represents a mutual dedication to enriching communities through service, and increasing the positive role that community centers play in providing children and families with positive places to engage with their communities,” said Brown.

In addition, ARAMARK sponsors the Civic Engagement Team in City Year Greater Philadelphia to encourage the value of citizen service and is a Founding Team Sponsor for City Year London where ARAMARK extends its commitment to students and communities outside of the U.S.

About In School & On Track: Every 26 seconds a student gives up on school in America. City Year’s In School & On Track initiative, announced in 2009 with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, school superintendents and philanthropists, is designed to bring City Year’s outcomes-based service model to 50 percent of all of students falling off track in City Year’s 20 U.S. locations. Focusing on attendance, behavior, and course performance—the indicators that research shows can help predict whether a student is highly likely to drop out—City Year corps members serve full-time in schools as tutors, mentors and role models, helping students stay on track, and get back on track, to graduation. The In School & On Track initiative calls for the expansion of the corps to 6,000 members from the current corps size of 1,750, in partnership with the private sector, school districts, and the federal AmeriCorps program. For more information about In School & On Track, please visit www.cityyear.org/inschool_ontrack.

About City Year: City Year unites young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service, giving them the skills and opportunities to change the world. As tutors, mentors and role models, these diverse young leaders help children stay in school and on track, and transform schools and communities across the United States, as well as through international affiliates. Founded in Boston in 1988, City Year has established programs in Boston; Chicago; Cleveland; Columbia, SC; Columbus; Detroit; Little Rock/North Little Rock; Los Angeles; Louisiana; Miami; Milwaukee; New Hampshire; New York; Greater Philadelphia; Rhode Island; San Antonio; San Jose/Silicon Valley; Seattle/King County; and Washington, D.C.; and international affiliates in Johannesburg, South Africa and London, England. City Year, a proud member of AmeriCorps, receives support from foundations, corporations, individuals, school districts, and the Corporation for National and Community Service. For more information, please visit www.cityyear.org.

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. The company is recognized as the industry leader in FORTUNE magazine's "World's Most Admired Companies," and as one of America's Largest Private Companies by both FORTUNE and Forbes magazines. 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 255,000 employees serving clients in 22 countries. Learn more at the company's Web site, www.aramark.com, or www.twitter.com/aramarknews