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: More Aussies in need of hunger relief are set to benefit thanks to Woolworths’ partnership with OzHarvest, with the supermarket set to match every dollar donated by customers to the charity’s Christmas appeal in store and online between now and December 26th.

Funds from this years’ Appeal will support OzHarvest in delivering fresh and nutritious food to more than 1,900 charities. While Christmas is generally a busy time of year for the organisation, demand for food relief is particularly high this year as 3.7 million households in Australia face challenges in putting food on the table.

To support the Appeal, customers shopping in Woolworths Supermarkets have the option to round up their shop to the nearest dollar at self-checkouts or add a 50 cent token to their basket at full service lanes. For those shopping online, a donation can be added to your basket. All money donated will be matched by Woolworths*.

Every 50 cents donated to OzHarvest helps them to provide one meal, and this year’s Appeal aims to provide 10 million meals for those in need. These funds will help OzHarvest keep their vans on the road and get good food to those who need it most. It comes on top of the weekly collections from the OzHarvest teams at more than 600 Woolworths supermarkets across the country, which has seen 30 million kilos of fresh and nutritious food rescued throughout the last ten years.

Managing Director of Woolworths Supermarkets, Natalie Davis, said: “We are acutely aware of the pressure that’s being placed on Australian families through cost of living increases. For many Australians, Christmas is a joyful time, but for those not knowing how they are putting food on the table, the holiday period is very stressful.

“Together we’ve been providing food relief to Australian communities for more than 10 years, which has supported more than 70 million meals for people facing food insecurity in local communities.

“Despite household budgets being tight, we continue to see the wonderful generosity of our customers and teams through the Appeals we host in support of various charity partners. These gestures go a long way and we hope our contributions throughout the year, including $8 million that was donated by Woolworths to our food rescue partners in August, can help extend OzHarvest’s impact even further.”

OzHarvest Founder & CEO, Ronni Kahn AO said:”In our so-called ‘lucky’ country it’s devastating to think that 3.7 million households are struggling to put food on the table. We see the need in the communities every day and are doing our best to make sure good food gets to those who need it most, but often there’s just not enough.

“The Christmas Appeal is a wonderful way to help us feed more people in need and from now until the end of the campaign every donation will be matched – doubling your impact instantly! A huge thank you to the Woolworths team and all their customers who choose to donate this year – we couldn’t do what we do without you.”

The OzHarvest Christmas Appeal will run until December 26. Customers can also look out for the Woolworths Dreamy Choc Chip Santa Cookies in stores and online. Fifty cents from every pack is donated to OzHarvest, with donations from these purchases also being matched.

In addition to OzHarvest, all Woolworths stores nationally have a food rescue partner, with the equivalent of 34 million meals supported in the last year.