Final Safeway-Sponsored School Garden To Be Unveiled

June 6, 2011 - PRLog -- Alliance for a Healthier Generation and Safeway Grow Healthy School Gardens in Washington, D.C. Schools

Safeway Sponsored School Gardens Help Combat Childhood Obesity by Engaging Youth in the Growing of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

What:  Safeway and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a national non-profit founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, teamed up last year to launch a District-wide campaign to combat childhood obesity by planting healthy gardens in 10 D.C. schools and help teach young people about the benefits of fruits and vegetables. All of the gardens are planted at schools that are members of the Alliance’s Healthy Schools Program, a national program which supports more than 12,000 schools across the U.S.

Today, students from Sheppard Elementary will host representatives of Safeway at their new school garden, built earlier this year.

Where:  Shepherd Elementary 7800 14th St. NW Washington, DC 20012

When:  June 7, 2011 from 1:30 – 2:30PM
Safeway sponsors grants that equip students with materials to construct and plant the garden and the Alliance provides resources and curriculum to ensure the kids understand the nutritional value of their harvest and how to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into their daily lives.

This spring gardens were planted at The Arts and Technology Academy PCS, John Burroughs Educational Campus, Roots PCS, Shepherd Elementary and Janney Elementary School. Last fall the Alliance and Safeway built gardens at River Terrace Elementary, Tyler Elementary, Anne Beers Elementary, Shaed Education Campus and King Elementary.

To extend the education effort into the store environment, the Alliance will provide information for parents to help them find easy ways to add fruits and vegetables to their family’s diet. Information will be distributed at all 15 Safeway Locations in the District of Columbia.

About Safeway
Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America, based on sales.  The company operates 1,694 stores in the United States and western Canada and had annual sales of $41 billion in 2010.  The company’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY.  Safeway supports a broad range of charitable and community programs and, in 2010, donated more than $250 million to important causes, such as cancer research, education and hunger relief.

With 15 stores in the District of Columbia, Safeway’s Eastern Division employs approximately 17,000 people and operates 162 stores, including 28 Genuardi's Markets in Southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and 70 Safeway stores in Maryland, 43 in Virginia and four in Delaware.   In 2010, the Washington Business Journal listed Safeway as the top philanthropic company in metropolitan Washington.  The District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce honored Safeway with its 2010 Economic Development Award for the company’s investment in building new stores in Georgetown and the Southwest Waterfront.

About the Alliance for a Healthier Generation
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation works to address one of the nation’s leading public health threats – childhood obesity. The goal of the Alliance is to reduce the nationwide prevalence of childhood obesity by 2015, and to empower kids to make healthy lifestyle choices. Founded in 2005 by the American Heart Association and William J. Clinton Foundation, the Alliance works to positively affect the places that can make a difference to a child’s health: homes, schools, doctor’s offices and communities. To learn more about the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, visit www.HealthierGeneration.org.

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National retail grocery chain with stores throughout located throughout North America (approximately 20 states and Canada).