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Safeway/Kraft Foods campaign nets major donations to feed hungry
'Help Us End Hunger' offers 362,000 grocery bags, $420,000 to relief centers

by Jeb Bing

Pleasanton-based Safeway Inc. announced this week that its joint campaign with Kraft Foods has provided nearly 362,000 bags of groceries and 3 million meals to the country's food banks and the hungry.

The campaign, called Help Us End Hunger, has been a national program aimed at helping fight hunger in communities across the country with Safeway customers contributing in local supermarkets.

In addition to Safeway's contribution of groceries, Kraft Foods donated $420,000, the monetary equivalent of 3 million meals, to local food banks in Safeway's U.S. operating divisions.

Part of Kraft Foods' donation helps support the efforts of 100 Safeway stores that sold the most food drive bags for local food banks. These "Top 100 Food Banks" will receive a monetary grant as part of Kraft Foods' 3 million meal donation.

The Help Us End Hunger (Every Bag Counts) food drive was central to Safeway's end-of-year giving initiative. High-quality pantry staples were pre-selected and bagged, allowing customers to purchase the bag for a discounted price and place it in a donation barrel that went directly to a local food bank.

"Hunger is a very serious issue in our country that often goes overlooked," said Larree Renda, Safeway executive vice president and chair of the Safeway Foundation.

"Sadly, more than 50 million Americans, or one in six of our neighbors, struggles to put food on their tables," Renda said. "That's why we joined with Kraft Foods and encouraged our customers to help us tackle this problem."