Safeway, Inc. raised $18.2 million for breast cancer research and prevention programs during the company’s annual October fundraising campaign. Some of the most respected cancer centers in North America dedicated to breast cancer research, diagnosis and screening will be the benefactors of the funds, which were generated by customers and employees who collectively demonstrated “extraordinary generosity,” in a challenging economic climate, said Larree Renda, Safeway’s EVP and Safeway Foundation chair.

Since 2001, Safeway and the Safeway Foundation have devoted the month of October to raising money for breast cancer research and treatment, an effort that has garnered over $78 million for a variety of research initiatives.

A corporate leader in supporting cancer causes, Safeway has raised nearly $133 million through the years for breast cancer and prostate cancer research and treatment. Among the services and outreach efforts made possible by the Pleasanton, Calif.-based grocer’s charitable leadership are mobile mammography units that give access to early detection for low-income women and those in remote areas; low-cost prostate cancer screening tests, education and prevention information in various languages; and a dedicated Web site — www.BreastCancerTrials.org — that helps breast cancer patients find clinical trials for new experimental treatments.

Safeway operates 1,730 stores in the United States and western Canada, and posted annual sales of $44 billion in 2008.