Life At Levy

We know how much a plate of food can mean. Safety, security, happiness. But more than that, it’s about family. Gathering around a table serves a purpose — to eat. But the table acts as the perfect place to be together with others. Every day of the year, our guests gather around a huge table. It could be Lumen Field in Seattle, Disney Springs in Orlando, or Wrigley Field in Chicago. That big table of togetherness is what drives us to keep doing what we do, year after year. It’s what makes us feel so inspired to give back to our local communities, especially during the holidays!

In 2023, we were lucky enough to touch hundreds of communities across North America. It can’t be overstated how much they’ve done for us, so we know it’s our responsibility to pay that back — and pay it forward — in return. Continuing to show up in our communities with kindness and engaging the heart we bring when we serve others is what makes Levy stand out and shine.

Many of our teams have programs in place to do just that, so we talked with members of our Home Office team in Chicago about the initiatives they were a part of this holiday season that helped them put their heart and purpose to good use.

Thanksgiving

In November, we celebrated one of our favorite holidays of the year and one of our favorite annual traditions: Thanksgiving. For 27 years, Levy team members in Chicago have gathered at Guaranteed Rate Field to do what we do best — cook. This year, volunteers banded together to make 4,000 meals from scratch that were distributed to migrants and Chicagoans in need on Thanksgiving morning. Vice President and General Counsel Folarin Dosumnu had a special role this year as leader of the mashed potato team.

“I was on mashed potatoes, so the chefs showed me how to use the equipment and they always start with safety first,” Folarin says. “I made a lot, a lot of potatoes.”

The joy of mixing hundreds of pounds worth of creamy, salty potatoes aside, he said the event meant more to him than just a fun day with coworkers. As someone who has dedicated himself to using his “legal superpower” for pro-bono and philanthropic work, he’s no stranger to what comes from being a part of things like this. “It was extremely rewarding,” Folarin says. “I just think that was how I was raised — to help. I remember a lot of the different programs I was involved in growing up to help people around me, and feeling like I can give back to my community again is amazing.”

Project Great Elf

Back in October, well before volunteers gathered in the kitchens of Guaranteed Rate Field, the Levy Human Resources team began planning for the giving extravaganza known as Project Great Elf, or PGE. Each year, the “Head Elves” of PGE begin by reviewing letters to Santa from students at five Chicago elementary schools that include their top three wishlist items for the holidays. The elves do their best to get each student one of their choices to ensure they get what they want and that each gift is personal and heartfelt. The program culminates with a breakfast and gift-opening celebration with Santa.

Ebonie Hall, Human Resources Manager, led the project this year. “I had my hands in every part of the program this year,” she says. “We started in October preparing for December’s gifts, so it was a lot of work and fun.”

Ebonie spent hours every single day for a week at Target buying gifts for the kids and thinking on her feet to accomplish the ultimate goal. “For me, it’s joy,” she says. “We’re doing something that will really put a smile on these kid’s faces who aren’t able to celebrate the holidays in the same way.”

After purchasing all the gifts comes possibly the most impactful part of the project: wrapping. Dozens of team members arrive at their scheduled times leading up to the holidays to wrap hundreds of presents as a group. One of the expert wrappers was Megan Clarke, Executive Assistant for the Design & Construction team. Before coming to Levy, she worked for Chicago Public Schools and was able to see the impact of a program like this on kids she personally interacted with. “The holidays are a very mixed bag of emotions,” she says. “Some kids have had a very similar experience to what I had growing up, and some kids do not. I was excited to hear about PGE when I started here, and it’s one of my favorite parts about Levy.”

On December 19, the Levy team in Chicago visited Little Village Academy to deliver the gifts and host a holiday breakfast. According to Ebonie, it’s not just the gifts that make the day so special, it’s also the delicious breakfast. “Having a meal is one of the few times you can get so many people together, and you’re able to enjoy not just the meal, but the moment,” she says.

This celebration is an opportunity to help every child at the school feel not only together, but the same, in a community where the students’ experiences can be very different from each other. “We’re all getting treated the same,” Ebonie says. “Your gift is no better than mine, your breakfast is no different than mine. We are all here for the same reason and celebrating this holiday together.”

“We pride ourselves on being in the community in all aspects of our operations,” Folarin says. “When you’re at one of our Chicago venues, for example, you get a taste of the culture and a taste of the community. If we’re going to be providing that, we want to be out there to understand what the community wants and needs. I’m glad our company invests so much time and resources into it.”

So much of what we do stems from our core belief in the power of being nice. But sometimes, we know nice isn’t enough. Our job is to create unforgettable memories in some of the coolest places, so when an opportunity comes around to help, we don’t see that any differently.

“I think that companies that have such an influence in their community shape what that community is,” Megan says. “We have a responsibility to make sure that the people we serve are being taken care of, especially at this time of year.”