Safeway Begins MDA Fundraising Campaign

Aug. 3, 2011 - PRLog -- Lanham, Md. — Safeway Inc. today announced the launch of its 10th annual companywide campaign to support the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s (MDA) efforts to develop treatments and assist people coping with neuromuscular diseases.

“We are honored and pleased to continue our association with one of the most highly regarded charitable causes in the world,” said Steve Neibergall, president of Safeway’s Eastern Division.  “MDA is a remarkable organization funding more than 300 leading-edge research projects worldwide annually that are changing lives.”

MDA works in communities to combat neuromuscular diseases through (1) basic and applied scientific investigation, (2) local comprehensive programs of medical and support services, and (3) widespread professional and public health education.

Now through Labor Day, all Safeway and Genuardi’s stores throughout the mid-Atlantic region will collect donations at checkstands or through other in-store activities.  The Safeway Foundation will distribute the proceeds raised in their entirety to MDA.  The company’s U.S. retail stores will also participate in the “Make a Muscle, Make a Difference” program, which provides MDA with a portion of the proceeds of specially marked products purchased by Safeway customers.

While 2011 marks the 10th year Safeway has conducted a companywide fundraiser for MDA, the partnership goes back much further.  In years past, individual stores collected donations through local grassroots fundraising and groups of employees volunteered by answering phones during the annual telethon.  Over the years, Safeway has raised more than $58 million for muscular dystrophy charities.  In addition to the company’s participation in the National Telethon, Safeway employees from across the country will continue to participate in regional MDA telethons to bring attention to the cause.

The impact of the donations and dedication has been tremendous. In the last six months alone, MDA has reached the following landmarks with the help of Safeway’s customers and employees:

•  launched the first clinical trial with a drug that specifically targets the genetic flaw in familial ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease;

•  gained FDA approval to initiate a clinical trial with the first drug designed to reverse the genetic flaw in Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a disease that causes the muscles to atrophy and waste away;

•  launched two projects designed to prevent debilitating side effects caused by long-term steroid therapy, currently the only approved drug regimen for certain neuromuscular diseases;

•  launched a clinical trial designed to optimize a gene therapy strategy for Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy, which most severely affects hip and shoulder muscles; and

•  established multi-center clinical research networks that are engaged in cutting-edge clinical investigations to further improve the diagnosis and clinical management of individuals with these conditions.

Along with supporting MDA and people with disabilities through Easter Seals and Special Olympics, Safeway is one of the largest corporate supporters of cancer charities, having raised nearly $170 million for breast cancer and prostate cancer research and treatment.  In addition, the company contributes to a broad range of charitable and community programs and, in 2010, raised or donated more than $200 million to education, hunger relief, health and human services.

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 1,687 stores in the United States and western Canada and had annual sales of $41.1 billion in 2010. The company’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY.

Safeway’s Eastern Division employs approximately 18,000 people and currently operates 159 stores, including 30 Genuardi's Markets in Southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with 66 Safeway stores in Maryland, 43 in Virginia, 15 in the District of Columbia and five in Delaware.

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