Aramark’s Olympic ambitions
Posted on February 11, 2008
Zishi Li Campise was 34 years old when she left China and came to the U.S. to get married. Four years later she is eager for an opportunity to go back. And her employer may be her ticket.
Aramark will be catering the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and is in need of 7,000 employees, some of whom could be from the JMU community.
The 2008 games will mark the 40th anniversary of Aramark’s participation in the Olympics, since the 1968 games in Mexico City.
Campise, location supervisor, and Nancy Duncan location manager for JMU dining services, are applying for the job. All Aramark employees are eligible to apply, including students who meet requirements such as: current sophomore or junior in a certified culinary or hospitality program, minimum of six months experience in a food service environment and fluency in Mandarin.
“Initially, I’m sure [Mandarin] will be very challenging,” Duncan said. “I hope to learn from the bilingual staff already in place. I also work with several staff members on campus that speak the dialect.”
Aramark will pay for housing, as well as transportation costs to and from the work site and employees will receive their regular paychecks.
Although the Olympic Games don’t start until August, Aramark will begin catering in May. The games end Aug. 24, but the company will cater the Paralympic Games that begin in September. The Paralympics are Olympic style games for athletes with disabilities. For any one employee the average commitment time will be about three months.
“Aramark has a successful history of quality food and service at the Olympics and is the only food service provider large enough to handle an event of this size,” said Sherry Cox, communication specialist for JMU’s dining services.
There will be more than two thousand recipes on the menu, including Mediterranean and Asian dishes. Menus will be displayed in English, French and Chinese.
“Many operations will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it will be very fast-paced and busy,” Cox said, adding that Aramark expects to serve more than 3.5 million meals.
Even though there is uncertainty as to how much free time employees will have to explore the country, applicants are excited about the possibility of going.
“Being a part of the Aramark team and the overall Olympic Games will create many lasting memories,” Duncan said.
Campise is a native from Tianjin, China, which is about one hour from Beijing by train. She hopes to see her parents, siblings and friends if she goes.
“It’s a very special life experience, not everyone can go of course, and for me it’s going home,” Campise said.
