City Year and Aramark launch national campus recruitment campaign: message to "give a year" as tutors, mentors and role models to reach 3 million college students

BOSTON, MA, March 23, 2010 - City Year, a leading non-profit organization that unites young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service, announced today that it has expanded its partnership with ARAMARK, a world leader in professional services, through a new national volunteer recruitment campaign launched at 375 campuses served by ARAMARK Higher Education.

ARAMARK is supporting City Year's mission by promoting the "give a year. change the world." campaign, which is a call to 17-to-24 year olds to give a year of service as tutors, mentors and role models at schools across the United States. City Year seeks to reach more than three million young people through this campaign, as part of an initiative to double its corps of young people serving in high-poverty schools who help students stay in school and on track to graduate.

"Every 26 seconds a student drops out of school," said City Year CEO and Co-Founder Michael Brown. "Young adults serving in City Year can help keep students in high poverty schools in school and on track. We are tremendously grateful to ARAMARK for sending a powerful message to America's college students that they can give a year of service to help children at risk of giving up on their education to stay on a pathway to educational success, just like their own."

ARAMARK will promote City Year's "give a year. change the world." recruitment campaign nationally through its campus dining web portal, Campus Dish®, as well as on digital media signage boards and point-of-service displays, such as table tents, napkin holders and easels, located inside hundreds of campus dining halls. This exclusive marketing campaign will run this Spring and again during the Fall 2010 semester.

In addition, beginning in April, City Year and ARAMARK will host recruitment and service days at Boston University, Loyola University in Chicago, and Florida International University in Miami. The service days, led by City Year corps members, will unite ARAMARK employees and students in transformative community service projects, as part of the company's signature program, ARAMARK Building Community.

"We are proud to expand our partnership with City Year," said Andrew Kerin, ARAMARK Group President, Global Food, Hospitality and Facility Services, who also serves on the Board of Trustees of City Year. "This recruitment campaign offers a unique opportunity to connect ARAMARK and our college and university partners to engage and unite young people in meaningful volunteerism, as well as to help address the growing high school dropout crisis."

"Tackling a challenge as great as the nation's dropout crisis requires innovation and vision, and that is embodied by this ARAMARK recruitment campaign with City Year," said Rosabeth Moss Kanter, the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, who serves on the City Year board. "By combining unique strengths - ARAMARK's extensive reach and City Year's service model - this shows what a deeply-rooted public-private partnership can accomplish."

The City Year and ARAMARK partnership is a multi-year, multifaceted relationship that leverages a shared dedication to enrich communities through service. As part of ARAMARK's signature community involvement program, ARAMARK Building Community, City Year works alongside thousands of ARAMARK employees in service projects to strengthen community centers. As a National Leadership Sponsor and City Year's Official Apparel Partner, ARAMARK provides its experience and uniform apparel to enhance the professional services that corps members perform in schools, supports several City Year sites with board leadership and involvement, and promotes the "give a year. change the world." recruitment campaign.

About City Year, Inc.
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: Baton Rouge; Louisiana: New Orleans; 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 is a proud member of AmeriCorps. Please visit www.cityyear.org, for more information.

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 one of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" by the Ethisphere Institute, 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.