39,000 Sodexo employees took part in Servathon 2010

Teams in Canada and around the world work to fight hunger

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BURLINGTON, ON, July 7 /CNW/ - Sodexo announced that more than 39,000 Sodexo employees in 28 countries took part in its annual Servathon to fight hunger and malnutrition this spring. The company-organized initiative was launched in Canada in 2000 as a way to engage employees in hunger relief efforts in their local communities. Efforts included serving food, fundraising, food drives, and holding free nutrition and food safety workshops at hunger relief organizations.

This year, employees from 10 additional countries joined thousands of their colleagues to provide help to those in need. Globally, Servathon 2010 saw Sodexo employees collect over 175,000 kilos of food, 50% more than last year, and engage their clients, customers, vendors, and community members in the fight against hunger.

Michel Landel, CEO and President of Sodexo's STOP Hunger Association, said, "I am proud of our employees' commitment to the fight against hunger and malnutrition and very pleased to see the ever-growing number of employees who respond each year to our call for involvement. Servathon and our overall STOP Hunger initiative are tangible expressions of Sodexo's values and founding principles in action."

    
    Among the Servathon 2010 initiatives:
    -   In Canada 56 sites participated raising 3,500 kilos of food and over
        $21,000 all of which was distributed to local hunger charities across
        the country
    -   In Mexico, donations from 7,200 employees enabled the contribution of
        five tons of much needed and requested seeds and grains to seven food
        banks in nine states.
    -   In Austria, coin collections took place in all restaurants and staff
        offices, teams volunteered at their local hunger relief
        organizations.
    -   In China, employees volunteered at a local food bank and teams
        collected nearly 2,000 products for the disadvantaged.
    -   In the U.S., thousands of employees participated in Servathon
        activities including, on one site, the repackaging of more than 4,000
        kilos of food for distribution as nearly 8,000 meals.
    -   In France, at Sodexo Group HQ, employees collected 8,000 kilos of
        food from employees and vendors for distribution to social groceries
        and to NGOs implemented locally.
    

More than one billion people - one in six people on the planet - suffer from hunger. Sodexo is continuously increasing its efforts to combat hunger and malnutrition and has committed to extending the STOP Hunger initiative into every one of the 80 countries where it operates by 2020. Last year, employees in 29 countries participated in STOP Hunger, which focuses on four major areas: volunteering, financial and food donations, and providing Sodexo expertise in nutrition and food safety. During 2009 more than 360 major STOP Hunger initiatives were conducted in partnership with 237 NGOs, associations and charities.

About Sodexo

Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Daily Life Solutions

Quality of Life plays an important role in the progress of individuals and the performance of organizations. Based on this conviction, Sodexo acts as the strategic partner for companies and institutions that place a premium on performance and employee well-being. Sharing the same passion for service, Sodexo's 380,000 employees in 80 countries design, manage and deliver an unrivaled array of On-site Service Solutions and Motivation Solutions. Sodexo has created a new form of service business that contributes to the fulfillment of its employees and the economic, social and environmental development of the communities, regions and countries in which it operates. In Canada Sodexo launched the STOP Hunger Association in 2000 and formed the charitable organization, the Sodexo Foundation in 2001 to help fight hunger as it affects over 5 million Canadians.

/NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited members of the media/

For further information: Press contact, Jon Kristjanson, Senior Vice President, Sodexo Canada, Executive Director, Sodexo Foundation, [email protected], 877-632-8592 ext. 33250