Nelson Earns Position on ARAMARK Olympic Team

Mount Marty Campus Dining Manager and ARAMARK Manager, Erin Nelson, will embark on the adventure of a lifetime when she departs April 6th for Beijing, China to serve at the summer Olympics. Nelson is one of only 160 food service managers worldwide who were selected by ARAMARK for the opportunity.

She first heard of the Olympic opportunity from a fellow manager who was fortunate enough to be selected to serve at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece. “I knew in my mind I very much wanted to go to this. I don’t have family of my own, and there’s no time like the present to participate,” she said. “I’m not getting any younger.” Nelson will celebrate her 29th birthday while overseas in July.

Nelson will be managing inventory and preparing menus for the multiple venues managed by ARAMARK during the Olympics. Other employees of the food centers will mostly be Mandarin-speaking individuals. During the height of the Olympics, they expect to serve over 30,000 athletes, trainers, media representatives and other employees each day.

Nelson’s last day at Mount Marty will be Tuesday April 1st. She will arrive in Beijing on April 7th and will begin working immediately, despite the fact that the Olympic games don’t start until August. She expects to go through some level of training regarding the inventory software when she first arrives, but is unsure of what other preparations they have planned for her.

ARAMARK has arranged for living facilities for all of the managers housing two or three per apartment. Participants have been alerted to water concerns to keep in mind during their six-month stay.

When asked if she had any other concerns about going, Nelson commented that the unrest in Tibet is somewhat unsettling, but “I am doing what I want to do, and will be doing good things for people. It’s not worth the anxiety to worry about what might happen.”

This is the 14th time ARAMARK has served at the Olympic games. ARAMARK, together with their partner Beijing Tourism Group will provide catering services for the Athletes’ Village, Media Villages, International Broadcast Center and the Main Press Center at the 2008 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing. ARAMARK will serve more than 3.5 million meals throughout the 60-day duration of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In addition, ARAMARK will manage the design and construction of the kitchen and dining facilities for the Olympic catering venues.

Nelson plans to return to Mount Marty in October, and in her absence, Dennis Kingsbury and Heidi Haro will be handling all food service and catering requests and can be contacted at 668-1550.

Nelson is a native of Volga, South Dakota, and is the daughter of Dave and Lynette Nelson.

Mount Marty College
College Relations Office
1105 West 8th Street
Yankton, SD 57078
(605) 668-1517
mmc.college.relations@mtmc.edu