Dominick's/ABC 7 Holiday Food Drive Surpasses Goal, Gains More Than One Million Pounds for the Greater Chicago Food Depository

Dominick's/ABC 7 Holiday Food Drive Surpasses Goal, Gains More Than One Million Pounds for the Greater Chicago Food Depository CHICAGO, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- As a result of the Holiday Food Drive sponsored by Dominick's and ABC 7, the Greater Chicago Food Depository will be able to provide more than one million pounds of food -- a record-breaking goal set for the annual event -- for hungry people in Cook County. The amount of food and funds raised will be able to provide the equivalent of more than 757,000 meals. One of Chicago's largest food drives, the Dominick's /ABC 7 Holiday Food Drive was held at Dominick's stores across Chicagoland from Nov. 9, 2004 to Jan. 3, 2005. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040512/CGW059LOGO ) "The tremendous success of this year's Dominick's/ABC 7 Food Drive and other such holiday drives will help the Food Depository deal with the daily disaster of hunger that confronts thousands of families in Cook County," said Michael Mulqueen, executive director, Food Depository. "The groundswell of support we witnessed during this food drive will make a significant impact on the Greater Chicago Food Depository's ability to provide food year-round to the more than 300,000 hungry men, women and children in Chicago that we serve through soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters." Supported by store advertisements, public service announcements featuring ABC 7's Tracy Butler and Bill Campbell, and live broadcasts on ABC 7, the drive created tremendous community involvement both through donations of food and through the purchase of "Depository Dollars," which allowed customers to make a monetary donation to the Food Depository in the amount of $1, $2 or $5 at the check out counter. The event raised more than $163,000 for the Food Depository through this program and corporate support-approximately $50,000 more than the previous year's event. "We are very pleased to have exceeded the goal of 'gaining a million pounds' for those in need," said Don Fitzgerald, vice president, retail marketing execution for Dominick's. "Equally as pleasing is the kindness and generosity exhibited by so many of our shoppers as well as our corporate partners. Regardless of size, each donation was given with sincerity and in the spirit of making sure no one goes hungry," Fitzgerald said. "It is heartbreaking that in this day and age there are still those that are going hungry," said Emily Barr, President and General Manager, ABC 7 Chicago. "We applaud the efforts of Dominick's and the Greater Chicago Food Depository and are proud to have played a significant part in this Holiday Food Drive." For more information about ABC 7, please visit http://www.abc7chicago.com/ . Dominick's Finer Foods, a division of Safeway Inc., operates 101 stores in the Chicagoland area. An important part of Dominick's philosophy is to reinvest in communities through local scholarship and educational programs, food donations and community-based outreach programs. In 2004, Dominick's raised nearly $1 million for research, outreach and education for breast and prostate cancer as well as for the neuromuscular diseases addressed by the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Since 1925, Dominick's has been proud to be Chicagoland's neighborhood grocer. The Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicago's food bank, is a not-for- profit food distribution center providing food for hungry people while striving to end hunger in our community. The Food Depository distributes donated and purchased food through a network of 600 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters to more than 91,000 adults and children every week. Last year, the Food Depository distributed more than 40 million pounds of non-perishable food and fresh produce, dairy products, meat, poultry and fish, the equivalent of more than 84,300 meals every day. For more information, log onto http://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/ or call 773.247.3663. Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040512/CGW059LOGO AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Source: Greater Chicago Food Depository CONTACT: Ruth Igoe of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, +1-773-843-2843; or Wynona Redmond of Dominick's, +1-630-891-5175; or Deborah Gunn of ABC 7, +1-312-750-7111 Web Site: http://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/ http://www.abc7chicago.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment