We partner with community experts, service providers and support groups that educate and serve neighbours facing food insecurity. Together with our partners, we are creating inclusive spaces in communities from coast to coast.
We are a Platinum-level partner for Special Olympics Canada with a focus on nutrition education and food access. Since the partnership began in 2016, we have contributed more than $4.1 million in food and funds to Special Olympics Canada.
The program includes nutrition sessions, in-kind donations, employment opportunities, national games, fundraising and local events. This year, our Safeway banner was a Diamond Sponsor of the Special Olympics National Winter Games, Thunder Bay 2020, supplying healthy meals and snacks to athletes and volunteers throughout the Games. We were there with coaches, volunteers, and friends and families to cheer athletes on, warm them up, keep them fuelled and recognize their hard work and success. As the presenting sponsor of the opening ceremonies on February 25, we held a rally for the community where athletes and families could win prizes, sample food, play games and take photos with the official Games Cauldron.
Our support elevated the Winter Games experience for athletes and raised the profile of the Special Olympics movement. In addition to providing 26 Safeway teammates to volunteer at the Games, activities sponsored by Safeway created 17 brand ambassador jobs in the local community.
It is estimated that one in five Canadian children go to school hungry. We are proud to support The Grocery Foundation’s mission to change this statistic through the Toonies for Tummies Program, which provides healthy breakfasts and/or mid-morning meals to hungry school-aged children in Ontario and Western Canada. Our involvement in the program has resulted in significant expansion of the campaign, ensuring more kids have access to a healthy meal at the start of every school day... Read More
After several years in Ontario, 2020 was the first year the Toonies for Tummies campaign expanded to Western Canada. Our stores raised a total of $897,000 for Toonies for Tummies across five provinces, with 100% of funds raised providing more than 448,000 meals to hungry school-aged children. Read Less
The Friends Helping Friends campaign is a longstanding fundraising campaign for the Calgary Food Bank and food banks across Southern Alberta. While Food Banks typically receive an influx of donations around the holiday season, this campaign reminds Albertans that food insecurity is an issue 365 days of the year. The 2019 campaign included, a partnership with CTV and Calgary homebuilder, Calbridge Homes, and ran in April at Sobeys, Safeway, and IGA stores in Calgary, Airdrie, Lethbridge, Brooks, Strathmore, Cochrane, Chestermere, and Okotoks... Read More Customers could support their local food bank by donating at the till or buying one of our $5 or $10 food hampers. 2019 was the most successful Friends Helping Friends campaign in its 25-year history, raising over $475,000 for the Calgary Food Bank and food banks in Southern Alberta. Read Less
As a family nurturing families, our Sobeys banner is a strong supporter and year-round partner of the SickKids Hospital Foundation. We know that sick children come from families that are deeply concerned about their wellbeing, and we want to walk alongside patients and their families on the road to recovery. Michael Medline, our President & CEO, is a proud member of the SickKids Foundation Board of Directors. Our Sobeys banner is also a title sponsor of the fundraising Breakfast of Champions event in Toronto in November 2020... Read More
On September 28, 2019, our Sobeys teammates and their family members joined more than 4,000 supporters in Toronto’s Fort York neighbourhood to raise awareness and show support for the SickKids Hospital Foundation. The SickKids Get Loud event included a 5km march, food, and a music festival and Team Sobeys was thrilled to be recognized as the Top Fundraising Corporate Team and one of the Top Corporate Participant teams.
As the event’s ‘Fuel Up’ sponsor, we provided breakfast for participants and set up a ‘High Five’ station at the midway point of the march, complete with a brass band, snacks and more, including gift cards to walkers, Compliments ice cream and family games. Our Sobeys stores in Toronto and the GTA nearly doubled the fundraising goal. Together, with the generosity of our customers, we raised an incredible $73,958 for SickKids. Read Less
Every year, we support the Dartmouth North Community Food Centre’s Garden Party, an annual event held to plant and expand the organization’s volunteer-led city garden. The surrounding area is one of the lowest-income areas in Halifax, Nova Scotia – the home province of Sobeys. As part of our longstanding relationship with the Centre, we have allowed it to use a former Sobeys store as its headquarters rent-free for ten years, providing an invaluable space for the organization to run their operations... Read More
The Centre offers the food grown in its garden to community members at a discounted price and supplies healthy lunches to residents who may not otherwise be able to afford one. Our annual $4,000 investment funds a lunch for all Garden Party volunteers, with participation from our store teammates in the area as well. In addition, we support the Centre with in-kind donations and employee volunteers. Read Less
Quality of life for the people who live in the communities we serve is important to us. One of the core values that drive our community work is encouraging a lifestyle built around healthy eating and active living. To reinforce this, our Farm Boy stores host complimentary in-store nutritional tours where local health and wellness educators, doctors and nutritionists share tips and best practices with members of the community to help them eat better and feel better... Read More
We are also grateful for the generosity of our customers. With their support, our Farm Boy stores have donated more than $2 million to local hospitals and non-profits through annual fundraising campaigns: Charity Cookie and our Coupon Book for Kids. All money raised stays within the local communities and helps to provide needed support for programs that offer nutrition awareness and education for at-risk kids. Together, we are helping to improve lives. Read Less
Sobeys, Safeway and IGA have been long time supporters of Kinsmen Telemiracle, an annual Kinsmen Foundation telethon fundraiser to provide medical equipment and travel to those who need medical surgeries and procedures. Throughout Saskatchewan, people of all ages with special needs may apply to the Kinsmen Foundation for assistance. Examples include specialty wheelchairs that range from $3,000 to $5,000 each, or a $10,000 “Talking Machine” to provide those unable to verbally communicate an opportunity to communicate with words... Read More
The three banners collectively raised over $80,000 in 2019 through the generosity of customers making $2 donations at checkout, earning the three banners platinum level recognition from the charity. Customers were encouraged to write their names or messages on a collection of paper hands at store entrances. Read Less
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