Marg Helgenberger Teams Up Again with Stand Up To Cancer and The Safeway Foundation in the Fight against Breast Cancer

Public Service Campaign Will Help Raise Awareness and Funds for Innovative Breast Cancer Research

LOS ANGELES and PLEASANTON, Calif., Sept. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), and The Safeway Foundation have collaborated on a second public service campaign featuring actress and SU2C Ambassador Marg Helgenberger. The campaign, entitled "Together, We're Creating a Brighter Tomorrow," is designed to raise funds and increase awareness for the fight against breast cancer. The campaign launches October 1, the start of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130926/DC86487)

Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in women, with 1 in 8 women in the US affected each year.   Through this public service announcement, SU2C and The Safeway Foundation encourage men and women to support vital research to find a cure for breast cancer.

"I am proud and honored to be a part of this campaign again and work closely with two organizations dedicated to eradicating this disease," said Helgenberger, best known for her role as Catherine Willows on the CBS drama, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. "I stand up for my mother and stand strong alongside all the women and families who have been affected by this disease."

The campaign will coincide with Safeway's annual in-store Breast Cancer Awareness fundraiser, which offers customers multiple opportunities to give at more than 1,600 Safeway stores across the United States and Canada. The campaign will extend through November 3.

At the center of the public service campaign is a limited-edition, breast cancer awareness-themed reusable shopping bag. The bag will be available for purchase at all Safeway locations, including Vons, Pavilions, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Dominick's, and Carrs stores, as well as online at safewayfoundation.org. Two dollars from the sale of each $2.99 reusable bag will go directly to breast cancer research. Additionally, Safeway shoppers will have a chance to make a separate donation at checkout stands.

"The Safeway Foundation is excited to work with Stand Up To Cancer and Marg Helgenberger again this year and to continue making strides in breast cancer research. With her personal connection to breast cancer, Marg continues to be a powerful voice for the cause," said Larree Renda, Safeway Inc. Executive Vice President and Chair of the Safeway Foundation. "The research made possible by The Safeway Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer, as well as the passionate message delivered by ambassadors like Marg Helgenberger, can truly help save lives."

The collaborative campaign represents a continued dedication to breast cancer research and awareness for both The Safeway Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer. To date, Safeway and The Safeway Foundation have raised $119 million for breast cancer causes. Some of those donations, provided by Safeway's generous customers, have helped provide support to Stand Up To Cancer and the transformative cancer research it funds, like the SU2C Breast Cancer Dream Team. The team – led by Dennis Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., and Joe W. Gray, Ph.D. – is hard at work developing more effective, less toxic treatments for the three major breast cancer subtypes and addressing cancer cells' ability to become resistant to therapies that are initially effective, which is one of the primary obstacles to successful treatment. Understanding this resistance opens the door to developing new therapeutic agents to overcome this critical problem.

"The Safeway Foundation has long been a prominent supporter of breast cancer awareness and research," said Lisa Paulsen, co-founder of Stand Up To Cancer and CEO of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. "Stand Up To Cancer is honored to continue our work with The Safeway Foundation and Marg Helgenberger to help combat a disease that takes the lives of too many women."

To learn more, visit www.SafewayFoundation.org or www.standup2cancer.org. To join the conversation, like us on Facebook at @StandUpToCancer or follow us on Twitter at @SU2C.

ABOUT STAND UP TO CANCER (SU2C)

Stand Up To Cancer – an initiative of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a non-profit organization – began in the USA in 2008 with a landmark telecast on the ABC, CBS and NBC networks. The third U.S.-based telecast was broadcast on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and 22 cable networks on Sept. 7, 2012. Internationally, in addition to the Netherlands, Stand Up To Cancer launched in the United Kingdom with a four-hour live televised fundraiser on Channel 4 in collaboration with Cancer Research U.K. on Oct. 17, 2012.

Stand Up To Cancer raises funds to hasten the pace of groundbreaking translational research that can get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives. SU2C marshals the resources of the media and entertainment industries in the fight against this disease. Current members of the SU2C Council of Founders and Advisors (CFA) include Talk Show Host, Journalist and well-known Cancer Advocate Katie Couric; Sherry Lansing, Chairperson of the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Board of Directors and Founder of the Sherry Lansing Foundation; EIF President and CEO Lisa Paulsen; EIF Senior Vice President Kathleen Lobb; Rusty Robertson and Sue Schwartz of the Robertson Schwartz Agency; Pamela Oas Williams, President of Laura Ziskin Productions and Executive Producer of Stand Up To Cancer's In-house Production Team, and Nonprofit Executive Ellen Ziffren. All current members of the CFA were co-producers of the 2012 televised special. The late co-founder Laura Ziskin executive produced both the Sept. 5, 2008, and Sept. 10, 2010, broadcasts. SU2C was formally launched on May 27, 2008. Sung Poblete, Ph.D., R.N., has served as SU2C's president and CEO since 2011.

SU2C's "Dream Team" approach to funding translational cancer research enables scientists from different disciplines at research centers across the country and internationally to collaborate on projects geared toward getting new, less toxic treatments to patients as quickly as possible. Monies also support innovative cancer research projects that are often deemed "too risky" by conventional funding sources. One hundred and one institutions are currently involved. As SU2C's scientific collaborator, the American Association for Cancer Research, led by a prestigious SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee, provides scientific oversight, expert review of the research projects and grants administration. For more information, visit standup2cancer.org.

ABOUT SAFEWAY www.Safeway.com

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 1,638 stores in the United States and western Canada and had annual sales of $44.2 billion in 2012. The company's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY.

ABOUT THE SAFEWAY FOUNDATION

Founded in 2001, The Safeway Foundation supports causes that impact our customers' lives. Our stores provide the opportunity to mobilize funding and create awareness in our neighborhoods through our employees' passion, partnerships with our vendors, and the generous contributions by our customers. We focus on giving locally in the areas of health and human services, hunger relief, education and helping people with disabilities. Safeway Inc. and The Safeway Foundation have invested $1 billion in our neighborhoods since 2001. For more information about The Safeway Foundation, visit www.safewayfoundation.org.

SOURCE Entertainment Industry Foundation