Albertsons Cos.’ exclusive debi lilly design line of floral and home décor is transforming the gift of flowers into the gift of hope.

Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, ACME, Randalls, Tom Thumb, United and Market Street stores in select areas are now offering special debi lilly design Extending Smiles bouquets, which not only make a room or holiday dinner table look more festive, but also help people in need in the U.S. and around the world.

“Customers today don’t just want a great product. They don’t just want great style. They want something that is going to make someone’s life better,” said entertaining and design expert Debi Lilly. “Customers want to know that they’re helping make the planet a little bit better and that they’re helping change a life.”

With the holidays approaching, a simple gift of flowers can provide something truly special. When customers purchase one of the special floral designs at participating stores, $1 of the proceeds will be used to provide a pair of shoes, clean water, or food to someone in need.

Each bouquet includes a tag that identifies the category for which the donation will be used — water, food, or shoes. The tag also has two important codes to offer even greater detail. A QR Code leads to the Extending Smiles website, providing a full perspective of the program, including a video detailing the global crisis of water-related diseases and hunger. A unique alphanumeric code can be input on the website to pinpoint the specific communities and lives that will be touched. For example, a code could reveal, “Your bouquet purchase will go toward water treatment equipment for different schools in Flint, MI.”

“We’re excited to share the joy and beauty of flowers in a way that can have a meaningful and incredible effect on people’s lives. That’s what we mean by Extending Smiles. The smile doesn’t end when you receive the flowers as a gift or use them to decorate a space. The benefit goes far beyond,” said Chad Coester, senior vice president of Albertsons Cos. Own Brands.

This outreach is made possible through partnerships with three highly respected and efficient charities that maximize the power of the donation, stretching each dollar to make the greatest impact.

• Soles4Souls: Since 2006, Soles4Souls has distributed over 35 million pairs of shoes in 127 countries, including the U.S. The donation from your purchase of an Extending Smiles bouquet will provide a child with a pair of shoes.
• Food for the Poor Inc.: One of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, Food for the Poor Inc. provides food, housing, water and other key necessities to people in need in the Caribbean and Latin America. The donation from your purchase of an Extending Smiles bouquet will provide a person with one meal a day for a full week.
• WATERisLIFE: This organization’s mission is to bring safe drinking water to 1 billion people across the globe. WATERisLIFE provides clean water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions to save lives and transform communities. The donation from your purchase of an Extending Smiles bouquet will help finance water filtration systems that can provide one person with clean water for a year.

In addition to supporting the organization listed on each tag, Extending Smiles bouquets also support sustainable farming practices. The designs are certified by the Rainforest Alliance, which verifies that each flower and element of the bouquet was farmed in a way that conserves biodiversity and natural resources and improves the livelihoods of growers and farm workers.

The Extending Smiles bouquets, which will be available year-round, are part of the popular debi lilly design collection of arrangements, vases, candles and other home décor items found exclusively in the floral department at Albertsons Cos. stores.