Albertsons Divisions Coordinate Charitable Efforts

Albertsons Cos. Inc. has honored its employees and customers across the country for helping donate millions of meals and thousands of toys through its 2016 Holiday Giving Campaign.

In total, the grocery company’s 2,300-plus stores and 275,000 team members helped orchestrate major food drives and giving campaigns, donating more than 12,000 turkeys and hams, and collecting tens of thousands of toys to make the holidays memorable. Each regional operating division chooses and manages its own giving programs, tailoring its outreach to the needs of the neighborhoods it serves.

Additionally, the Albertsons Cos. Foundation contributed $240,000 to fund charities at the forefront of hunger relief, juvenile diabetes research, veterans’ services and grass-roots community outreach.

Outreach initiatives included, but were not limited to:

• Acme Markets on the East Coast collecting and donating nearly 394,000 pounds of food as part of WMMR Radio’s annual Camp Out for Hunger program in Philadelphia, the largest single-location food drive in the country. Acme was a major sponsor of the event, in which WMMR on-air personalities broadcasted their show from a tent to collect donations and raise hunger awareness. Separately, Acme partnered with two philanthropic Philadelphia Eagles players – Vinny Curry and Malcolm Jenkins, along with their respective foundations – to deliver food donations to local causes and families.
• Southern Idaho Albertsons stores’ support of the annual 7Cares Idaho Shares campaign with news station KTVB to support the Community Safety Net Campaign. The program benefits 10 local charities. Nearly 30 stores collected food and monetary donations, and the Intermountain Division’s leadership team presented a $10,000 check and nearly 3,000 pounds of nonperishable food on-air at Albertsons Stadium.
• The Seattle Division’s Albertsons and Safeway stores teaming with Seattle Seahawks powerhouses Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, Jermaine Kearse and Tyler Lockett for the annual Safeway Seahawk Sweep in early December in Issaquah, Wash. The event earned more than $125,000 for local charities. The Seahawks stars each captained a team that included local first responders and Safeway customers, with teams facing off in heated competitions, including turkey bowling and in-store shopping runs.
• Dallas-area Tom Thumb stores joining WFAA-TV Channel 8 for Santa’s Helpers Toy Drive, which they've done for nearly 30 years. The event, which has raised more than 1.5 million toys since its inception, is the largest toy drive in Texas, and one of the largest nationwide. Every year, WFAA’s broadcasters send out the call to Dallas and Fort Worth communities for new, unwrapped toys.

Another component of the Holiday Giving Campaign is in-store food donation programs that provided food bank clients with the ingredients for a traditional holiday meal or a bag of the most requested nutritious items, including peanut butter, tuna and vegetables. For example, the Shaw's and Star Market stores in New England are conducting their annual Spirit of Giving Food Drive, in which customers can donate $5, $10 or $15 at checkout to provide a bundle or bag of food to a neighborhood food pantry or food bank.

The Albertsons Cos. Holiday Giving Campaign isn't exclusive to stores. Albertsons' corporate and division office team members also helped their communities with in-office food and toy drives. Some offices selected charity partners to fulfill the wishes of local children and families. Other offices adopted families and provided elements to celebrate the holidays, including gifts, a full dinner, a tree and decorations. This year, the corporate teams across three campuses donated nearly 3,000 new toys for local charities, including Toys for Tots.

Albertsons Cos. operates supermarkets in 35 states and Washington, D.C., under 19 banners, including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme Markets, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs.