Company : Safeway Foundation
Program category : 2020

Origins:

Safeway Foundation in Albertsons Companies Eastern Division, continuing our tradition of support and advocacy surrounding the issue of hunger in the communities we serve, launched the Kick Hunger campaign in March 2018 to raise funds and awareness to alleviate food insecurity in our local communities. Each year the campaign collects donations at checkout in Safeway stores in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia to support the important work of the Capital Area Food Bank and the Maryland Food Bank.

Contribution:

Safeway stores host the fundraising campaign, organized by Sr. Manager of Community & Public Affairs Beth Goldberg. Since the campaign's inception, we have recruited and partnered with sports and media companies that have provided tremendous support: NFL teams the Baltimore Ravens and the Washington Football Team (formerly known as the Washington Redskins) Television stations WBAL-TV11 in Baltimore and WJLA-TV (ABC7) in D.C., radio stations Radio stations 98 Rock and WBAL NewsRadio in Baltimore and WPGC and El Zol Radio in D.C. Newspapers The Washington Informer and El Tiempo Latino Our partners have provided public service announcements on air, on the web and via social media, and in print to help raise awareness and funds.

Objectives:

The campaign's objectives each year are to raise awareness and raise funds to help alleviate hunger in the communities we serve.

Impact:

The campaign raised $460,320 resulting in two donations of $230,160 each to the Capital Area Food Bank and the Maryland Food Bank Since 2018, this campaign - which is one of many fundraising programs Safeway Foundation conducts - has raised a 3 year total of $1,317,333

Quote:

this quote appeared in our post-campaign press release: “We are gratified by the results of our 2020 KICK HUNGER campaign, especially since our food banks’ needs have dramatically increased in the past two months,” said Tom Lofland, Eastern Division President. “We thank our customers and our partners for their generous support."

Support Statement:

This was a Maryland Food Bank email (in response to our sharing the grant news in 2019): We are so appreciative of everyone’s efforts to raise funds and raise awareness of food insecurity in our area. We are honored and grateful to be partners with each and every one of you. Thanks from everyone at the Maryland Food Bank, our board, our staff, our volunteers, our network partners and especially all those we serve!