The Southwest Division of Boise, Idaho-based Albertson’s, LLC donated $100,000 toward St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance’s capital campaign to expand its current facility in Phoenix.

“One of our most committed causes as a company is hunger relief,” said Shane Dorcheus, Albertson’s, LLC Southwest division president. “We know that over the last year, there are more and more people who are relying on facilities like St. Mary’s Food Bank to help, and we’re making this donation toward their capital campaign so they can further their mission to feed Arizona’s hungry.”

Funds raised from the food bank’s capital campaign will focus equally on three main areas: expanding the production capacity of the organization’s “Kids Café” program to allow more children to be fed after school, streamlining the way food bank partner agencies select and pick up food at St. Mary’s warehouses to accommodate more agencies, and relocating the kitchen and classroom space to increase student capacity of its “Community Kitchen” program.

Over the past year, Albertsons stores and customers in the Southwest division, which comprises Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, have provided over 2 million meals to hunger relief organizations through product and monetary donations. The grocer is also the 2009-2010 title sponsor of the St. Mary’s Kids Café golf tournament.

Privately owned Albertson’s, LLC operates approximately 250 stores under the Albertsons banner in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas.