12.06.2006 - 01:53pm ET

(CSRwire) PLEASANTON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2006--Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY) announced that its 2006 holiday food drive efforts are expected to result in more than 1.8 million meals donated to needy families and individuals. This ambitious goal will be achieved through a series of nearly 40 regional food drives with dozens of food banks and hunger relief programs across the company's operating areas - all designed to raise hunger awareness and provide relief to needy families during the holidays.

"Supporting food banks and other hunger relief programs is the largest single component of our charitable outreach efforts," said Larree Renda, Safeway Executive Vice President and Chair of The Safeway Foundation. "The holiday season gives us an important opportunity to help raise awareness of hunger in our communities and to collect food for those who need help this holiday season."

The holiday food drives and meal programs are just one part of Safeway's overall commitment to hunger relief. This year alone, Safeway will donate more than $110 million in food products and financial contributions to community food banks, food pantries, and other hunger relief agencies. The company has donated more than $1 billion in food products nationwide during the last 10 years.

"Families in so many communities benefit from the generosity and caring demonstrated by Safeway, its customers and employees," said Vicki Escarra, President and CEO of America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network. Many of the food banks benefiting from Safeway's hunger relief programs are members of the America's Second Harvest Network. "The holidays are all about giving, and Safeway clearly understands that their giving and support touch countless lives during the holiday season and throughout the year," Escarra added.

Safeway stores are located in 21 states, the District of Columbia and Canada, and operate under the Vons, Pavilions, Dominick's, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Genuardi's, Carrs, Pak 'n Save and Safeway banners. The stores, in partnership with customers, hunger relief agencies, government, and community organizations deliver food products to community-based organizations throughout the year. The company spends November and December teaming up with those organizations to deliver food and family meals to those in need. All of these efforts will help provide the equivalent of more than 1.8 million meals to families and individuals.

While most of these efforts involve collecting and managing donated food, others focus on serving hot meals during the holidays. In all, Safeway will help provide more than 1.5 million pounds of food, 24,000 turkey dinners, $200,000 in monetary donations and hundreds of volunteers to serve meals. Below are examples of the annual hunger relief projects that Safeway is sponsoring this holiday
season:

Arizona -- Arizona Safeway stores are partnering with the Association of Arizona Food Banks and Arizona's Community Diaper Banks to collect not only non-perishable food, but also disposable diapers for families in need.

Chicago -- Dominick's Finer Foods stores are rolling out food collection barrels for the annual Dominick's & ABC 7 Chicago Holiday Food Drive, which benefits the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The goal for the 2006 holiday season is to raise the equivalent to one million pounds of food. In addition, Dominick's stores are offering customers the opportunity to make cash contributions to the Greater Chicago Food Depository through the purchase of Depository Dollars donation certificates in $1, $2, and $5 denominations.

Colorado -- Safeway is a major food supplier for the free holiday dinner served by the Salvation Army of Colorado Springs, and also is sponsoring the Denver Salvation Army's annual holiday dinner, which feeds more than 3,000 homeless and disadvantaged children and adults.

Portland -- Safeway stores in the Greater Portland Area are collecting food for the Sunshine Division Annual Holiday Food Drive. The Sunshine Division, a food bank operated by the Portland Police Bureau, has provided food for needy families for more than 100 years. Safeway has partnered with the Sunshine Division on the Holiday Food Drive for more than 40 years.

San Francisco Bay Area -- More than 160 stores in the nine Bay Area counties, plus San Benito and Santa Cruz counties are participating in the Safeway/ABC 7 End Hunger Now food drive. On December 11, ABC 7 will broadcast live throughout the day from Union Square Safeway in San Francisco and Safeway stores in San Jose and San Ramon, asking viewers to bring food donations to the broadcast locations. In 2005 the Bay Area food drives collected more than 256,000 pounds of food.

Seattle -- Safeway stores in the Seattle metro area are working with several entities, including high schools, Boy Scouts, churches and food banks to gather and distribute donated food for the holidays.

Southern California -- Vons and Pavilion's stores are joining with a range of media partners to help Ventura County's FOODShare program meet its goal of collecting 170,000 pounds of food for the holidays.

Texas -- The annual Tom Thumb/CBS 11-TV Food Drive allows shoppers to purchase and donate pre-packaged goodie bags containing the foods most needed by food banks, such as canned tuna and peanut butter. In the Dallas/ Ft. Worth and Austin areas, Tom Thumb and Randalls stores contribute $22,000 to sponsor Empty Bowls events, during which participants give a contribution and receive a one-of-a-kind, hand-made pottery bowl created by local artists. The bowls are filled with gourmet soup made by area chefs.

Washington D.C. and Baltimore Metropolitan Area -- Safeway's 7th Annual Feast of Sharing fed more than 4,000 people on November 22 at the Washington Convention Center. In separate programs, the stores joined with Washington D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, incoming Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, the Washington Wizards, the Baltimore Ravens and media partners to donate Safeway gift cards and nearly 5,000 turkey dinners to needy families and seniors this season. For the 24th year in a row, Safeway is a partner in the Neediest Kids Food Drive, in which families receive food donations and a gift card to purchase groceries.

ABOUT SAFEWAY

Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 50 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America based on sales. The Company operates 1,767 stores in the United States and Canada and had annual sales of $38.4 billion in 2005. Safeway supports a broad range of charitable and community programs and last year donated more than $150 million to important causes, such as cancer research, education, food banks and programs focused on assisting people with disabilities. The company's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY.



Copyright Business Wire 2006

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