|
Safeway Inc. Announces ''Operation
Care Packages'' to Iraq
July 23,
2004 — Bellevue, WA --- In support of the many soldiers
serving in Iraq, Safeway Inc. announced plans to send
care packages from local communities to local heroes
every month. Beginning in September 2004, one Safeway
store each in Washington, Montana, and Alaska will serve
as a collection point for community residents to donate
items for a care package that will be mailed,
compliments of Safeway, to soldiers in Iraq.
Families
with loved ones serving in Iraq, who would like to
shower them with a surprise care package, are encouraged
to submit an entry to Safeway (see details below). The
collection site will change based upon the entries
received. The family of the selected entry will be
responsible for: recruiting a minimum of 4 volunteers
to collect donated items from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm on the
designated Saturday at their store, pack the donated
merchandise in boxes, and deliver the addressed packages
to the agreed upon mailing location. Safeway will:
provide flyers to be handed out to customers with a
suggested list of product donations, send press releases
to the local newspapers about the care package
collections and pay for postage to mail the packages to
our soldiers in Iraq.
Looking
for a way to honor soldiers over Independence Day,
Safeway opened its doors on July 3rd in the Rose Hill
community near Redmond, Washington, in their first
endeavor to let the community contribute to Operation
Care Package. The efforts at this location were a
tribute to a local fallen hero, Army Sgt. Jacob Herring,
and the rewards were bountiful. The community responded
with open arms and left Safeway with more than 48 boxes
of goodies to ship to his remaining platoon in Mosul,
Iraq.
“The
charitable response we received from the Rose Hill
community told us that there are many people looking for
ways to show their support of our troops. The
gratifying response gave birth to Operation Care Package
which we look forward to launching in August and
operating on a monthly basis,” stated Cherié Myers,
Director of Public and Government Affairs for Safeway
Inc. “Donating goodies is an easy way for the community
to show their support and allows Safeway the continued
opportunity to keep our doors open to humanitarian
causes.”
To have
your local Safeway store selected as the collection
point, families with a loved one serving in Iraq are
encouraged to submit an entry to: Safeway Public
Affairs, PO Box 85001, Bellevue WA 98015-8501. Your
entry must include the following information:
Your Name, Address, Phone Number, and
E-Mail Address.
Name, Title, Photo and Location of
family member serving in Iraq.
Location of the Safeway Store you
would like selected.
In 50 words or less, tell us why your
entry should be selected.
The
first collection date will be Saturday, September 16th.
Winners will be notified a minimum of two weeks prior to
their collection date.
Cherie
Myers
Director
of Public and Government Affairs
425-455-6392
|