Safeway Foundation Distributes Grants Totalling $130,000

Aug. 30, 2011 - PRLog -- Lanham, Md. - The Safeway Foundation presented grant award checks totaling nearly $130,000 to 31 mid-Atlantic region non-profit agencies during a ceremony at Safeway Eastern Division Headquarters earlier this week.  Thus far, the Foundation has distributed $194,000 in donations in 2011.

Included among the group of recipients are the Alzheimer’s Association (National Capital Area), Bread for the City, the Children’s Cancer Foundation, Children’s National Medical Center, D.C. Central Kitchen, the Kennedy Krieger Institute, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Maryland Food Bank, Mentoring to Manhood, Southwest Playground Project, and the Whitman Walker Clinic.  A complete list of the most recent grant recipients and the amount received follows.  (Editor’s Note: photos are also available of each of the grant recipient’s check presentations.  Please contact us if you wish to include that with your coverage).

The Whitman-Walker Clinic and Women Who Care Ministries (Gaithersburg, Md.) both received the largest contribution ($10,000) of this cycle with those grants supporting the 25th annual AIDS Walk and the Helping Kids Eat Weekend Backpack Program, respectively.

Safeway established the foundation to assist deserving charitable organizations with their work or special projects in a much more comprehensive manner.  The Foundation's resources are provided through annual employee payroll deductions with staff members designating the amount they wish to contribute during an annual pledge campaign.  Funding decisions made by the Foundation's board are influenced by Safeway's contributing employees, who are asked during the campaign which causes they wish to see supported (i.e. - hunger relief, health and human services, education, special needs and local community).

Each Safeway operating division operates and manages its own foundation.  As a result, all monies donated by Eastern Division employees will be distributed solely to non-profit groups located in the division's territory of Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and Delaware.

Safeway has consistently ranked among the top companies in the Washington metro region by the Washington Business Journal in the publication’s annual listing of leading corporate contributors.  This year, Safeway placed fourth for its 2010 donations after being the top corporate donor the previous year.

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 Canada with a total workforce of nearly 200,000 employees.

The Eastern Division currently employs more than 16,000 people and operates 159 stores that include 30 Genuardi's Markets in Southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey, along with 69 Safeway stores in Maryland, 40 in Virginia, 15 in the District of Columbia and five in Delaware.  

This is the list of August 2011 Safeway Foundation Grant Recipients with the amount received

Organization & Location   Grant Amount   
4-H Therapeutic Riding Program of Carroll County; Westminster, MD   $1,000
Alzheimer’s Association National Capital Area Chapter; Fairfax, VA   $5,000
ARRIBA Center for Independent Living; Washington, DC   $5,000
Bread for the City; Washington, DC   $5,000
Building Hope Inc.; Bowie, MD   $5,000
Children’s Cancer Foundation, Inc.; Owings Mills, MD   $5,000
Children’s National Medical Center; Washington, DC   $5,000
Circle of Hope; Barnesville, MD   $2,500
Community Dentistry on Wheels, Inc.; Largo, MD   $5,000
Community Foundation of the National Capital Region   $5,000
D.C. Central Kitchen; Washington, DC   $5,000
Divine Exchange Ministry, Inc.; Washington, DC   5,000
House of Ruth; Washington, DC   $2,500
Kennedy Krieger Institute; Baltimore, MD   $5,000
Lakeport Cluster Association; Reston, VA   $2,000
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society; Alexandria, VA   $6,000
Literacy Volunteers of America-Prince William, Inc.; Woodbridge, Va.   $1,000
Maryland Food Bank; Baltimore, MD   $2,000
Maryland Society for Sight; Baltimore, MD   $2,500
Mentoring To Manhood; Upper Marlboro, MD   $5,000
Quality Trust; Washington, DC   $1,350
Reaching The World; Temple Hills, MD   $5,000
Rob’s Barbershop Community Foundation, Inc.; Odenton, MD   $3,000
Rotary Area 4 Can-Do Too Playground, Inc.; Milford, DE   $5,000
Southwest Playground Project; Washington, DC   $5,000
Sudden Infant Death Services of the Mid-Atlantic; Haymarket, VA   $2,000
The Twelve Days of Christmas, Inc.; Alexandria, VA   $1,000
Urban Nation, Inc.; Silver Spring, MD   $2,500
Walk to Fight Breast Cancer/IAHF; Alexandria, VA   $5,000
Whitman-Walker Health; Washington, DC    $10,000
Women Who Care Ministries, Inc.; Gaithersburg, Md.   $10,000
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National retail grocery chain with stores throughout located throughout North America (approximately 20 states and Canada).