Safeway placed second in total volunteer hours and seventh in overall corporate charitable contributions (in terms of dollars provided) during 2011 among Washington-area businesses.

Employees from the grocer’s Eastern Division joined representatives from many other local businesses being recognized for their philanthropy at a recent ceremony.

Safeway employees amassed nearly 75,000 hours volunteering for a wide range of nonprofit organizations.

Company employees across North America spent more than 1 million hours in local communities conducting volunteer service.

On the giving side, Safeway locally was credited with approximately $4.8 million in contributions although the division provided nearly $9 million in donations. No credit was given for the five in-store fundraising campaigns held during various months of the year supporting hunger relief, persons with disabilities, prostate cancer, muscular dystrophy and breast cancer.

If credited with those contributions, Safeway would have placed third regionally.

Historically, Safeway has been one of the leading charitable corporate givers in the Washington, D.C., area frequently ranking among the top 10 local businesses in cash contributions, according to a Safeway news release.