Safeway Raises Record $11.2 Million for Community-Based Programs for People with Disabilities

Safeway Foundation to Distribute Funds to Charities Serving Important Segment of
the Population
PLEASANTON, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY) raised a record $11.2 million in April during the
company`s annual Disabilities Campaign, a month-long fundraiser to support two
of the most prominent organizations that assist people with disabilities, Easter
Seals and Special Olympics. The company gave credit to its customers and
employees for the success of the campaign.

"Our customers and employees deserve the real recognition for this extraordinary
outcome," said Larree Renda, Safeway Executive Vice President, Chief Strategist
and Administrative Officer. "Thanks to their generosity we are making a real and
measurable difference in the lives of people with disabilities."

Each April and August Safeway raises funds through customer donations and
company-sponsored events to support multiple organizations and causes for people
with disabilities, including Easter Seals, the Muscular Dystrophy Association,
Augie`s Quest and Special Olympics. To date, the company has raised more than
$121 million for these organizations.

"For nearly 25 years Safeway and its customers have made people with physical
and developmental disabilities a priority," said Easter Seals President and CEO
James E. Williams, Jr. "This level of support allows us to maintain and grow our
services to assist children and adults with disabilities."

Safeway launched its 2009 Disabilities Campaign on April 2, World Autism
Awareness Day, with an awareness-raising event at a Washington, D.C. Safeway
store. Congressman Roy Blunt (Missouri), former Texas Congressman Steve
Bartlett, U.S. Olympic gold medalists Dominique Dawes and Carly Patterson along
with Ambassador Pete Romero urged community support of the organizations and
recognized Safeway for its leadership in employing people with disabilities.
Safeway employs nearly 10,000 people with physical or intellectual disabilities.

"We continue to be impressed by the success of this remarkable Safeway
campaign," said Special Olympics Chairman and CEO Timothy Shriver. "The support
of Safeway customers will help our movement continue to change lives of people
with intellectual disabilities and help us build communities of acceptance and
inclusion."

The Safeway Foundation, the company`s philanthropic arm, will be working with
recipients to identify specific programs, projects and geographies to receive
Safeway`s financial support. The funds raised this year will support Easter
Seals programs that offer rehabilitation, therapy, training, employment,
recreation and autism services to people with disabilities. Easter Seals will
use a portion of the funds to create a special grants program that will be
dedicated to providing job training grants and expanding autism programs. In
Canada, Easter Seals will use funding to develop a "Kids to Camp" program that
will allow thousands of children to learn and further develop intellectually and
physically through a summer camp experience. Additionally, through a unique
partnership with Special Olympics, Safeway will help fund the Special Olympics
mission to provide year-round sports training and competition to people with
intellectual disabilities which in turn builds acceptance in communities.

ABOUT SAFEWAY www.Safeway.com

Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 50 company and one of the largest food and drug
retailers in North America, based on sales. The company operates 1,739 stores in
the United States and western Canada and had annual sales of $44.1 billion in
2008. The company`s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under
the symbol SWY. Safeway supports a broad range of charitable and community
programs and in 2008 donated more than $248 million to important causes, such as
cancer research, education and hunger relief. Safeway is also one of the largest
retail purchasers of wind energy, using 90,000 megawatt hours of wind energy,
enough to power all 324 Safeway retail fuel stations, all stores in San
Francisco, California and Boulder, Colorado, as well as all of the company
headquarters and all corporate offices in Northern California. Safeway was the
first major retailer to join the Chicago Climate Exchange, the world`s first and
North America`s only legally binding GHG allowance trading system, and the
California Climate Action Registry, which commits the company to reduce its
carbon footprint by 6 percent from year 2000 levels.

ABOUT EASTER SEALS www.EasterSeals.com

Easter Seals is the leading non-profit provider of services for individuals with
autism, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities and other special
needs. For nearly 90 years, we have been offering help, hope and answers to
children and adults living with disabilities, and to the families who love them.
Through therapy, training, education and support services, Easter Seals creates
life-changing solutions so that people with disabilities can live, learn, work
and play. Support children and adults with disabilities at www.easterseals.com
or http://autism.easterseals.com.

ABOUT SPECIAL OLYMPICS www.SpecialOlympics.org

Special Olympics is an international organization that changes lives by
encouraging and empowering people with intellectual disabilities, promoting
acceptance for all, and fostering communities of understanding and respect
worldwide. Founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the Special Olympics
movement has grown from a few hundred athletes to nearly 3.1 million athletes in
175 countries in all regions of the world, providing year-round sports training,
athletic competition and other related programs. Special Olympics now takes
place every day, changing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities in
places like China and from regions like the Middle East to the community
playgrounds and ballfields in every small neighborhood. Special Olympics
provides people with intellectual disabilities continuing opportunities to
realize their potential, develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage and
experience joy and friendship. Visit Special Olympics at
www.specialolympics.org.

Safeway Inc.
Teena Massingill, 925-467-3810

Copyright Business Wire 2009