Kicking off a month-long local effort
to fight hunger, NBC Bay Area is once again partnering with Safeway Stores for
a one-day food drive on Saturday, November 17 to benefit Bay Area Food
Banks, a collaboration of eight food banks serving over 600,000 local residents
each month. The “End Hunger Now” food drive will take place at 165 Safeway
locations throughout the Bay Area making it easy for community members to
participate and help feed their neighbors in need.
“We are proud to support our local
food banks and bring much needed attention to hunger in the Bay Area,” said
Rich Cerussi, NBC Bay Area President and General Manager. “We welcome the opportunity to inspire viewers to donate
during the holidays and throughout the entire year.”
“We thank NBC Bay Area and Safeway for bringing
attention to the severity of local hunger and for creating a simple way for
anyone in our community to help a family in need,” said Kathy Jackson, Second
Harvest Food Bank CEO. “Bay Area Food Banks are feeding people in every
neighborhood and through this drive you can donate to make a difference in the
lives of people where you live.”
For the last three years, NBC Bay Area
has partnered with Safeway to help stock the shelves of local food banks. In
addition to providing on air promotion, the station will be enlisting hundreds
of volunteers on Saturday to encourage shoppers to donate food items, including
NBC Bay Area anchors and reporters, who will be helping out at their
neighborhood Safeway stores. Individuals interested in volunteering to collect
food at a local Safeway on November 17, can visit www.bayareaproud.com to
register.
To make the donation process easier, a
specially produced shopping bag filled with items that food banks need the most
will be available for $10 at all local Safeway stores. These bags include items
such as rice, stuffing, canned vegetables and cranberry sauce. Once collected,
the bags will be delivered to food banks. The bags will be available for
purchase from November 14 through December 25.
“We are proud to be partnering with
our area food banks and these important volunteer organizations on this
community-wide collection effort,” said Karl Schroeder, President of Safeway
Northern California. “Assisting people
who need a helping hand during the holidays and throughout the year is an
important part of Safeway’s giving programs.”
Last year, the food drive collected a
total of 58,000 bags of food during the month long effort, nearly double the
goal.
Additionally, food banks across the
nation have the chance to earn a financial donation from Kraft Foods. The food
bank with the most donated bags per 100 shopper transactions will receive a
donation, which can be used to purchase additional food.
About
NBC Owned Television Stations
NBC Owned Television Stations is the
division of NBCUniversal that includes 10 local television stations and their
digital channels and websites, as well as a group of out-of-home properties and
a production company. The 10 stations
produce and deliver compelling and unique local news, information and
entertainment programming to viewers in the communities they serve, which
include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area,
Dallas-Fort Worth, Washington, D.C., Miami, San Diego and Connecticut, with a
goal of connecting to their audiences anytime and anywhere.
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 1,687 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.
About
Bay Area Food Banks:
Bay Area Food Banks is a
collaboration of eight
local food banks that serve more than 600,000 people in 11
northern California counties each month. Through 1,560 food pantries,
children's programs, shelters, soup kitchens, residential programs, and other
emergency food providers, Bay Area Food Banks distributes 142 million pounds of
food each year. With respect and compassion, the Food Banks serve anyone in
need.
MEDIA
CONTACTS
NBC
Bay Area – Liza Catalan
Safeway- Wendy Gutshall
Alameda
County Community Food Bank – Michael Altfest
Food Bank of
Contra Costa and Solano – Lisa Sherrill
Redwood
Empire Food Bank (Sonoma County) – Lee Bickley
San Francisco Food Bank & Marin Food Bank – Stacy Newman
Second
Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties – Caitlin Kerk
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