Woolworths’ partnership with OzHarvest will see the supermarket match every dollar donated by customers to the charity’s Christmas appeal in store and online until 26 December.

Funds from this years’ appeal will support OzHarvest to deliver food to more than 1900 charities, with demand for food relief particularly high this year.

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 baskets. Woolworths will match one transaction per customer per day, up to $1000.

Every 50 cents donated to OzHarvest helps to provide one meal. This year’s appeal aims to provide 10 million meals for those in need.

Woolworths Supermarkets MD Natalie Davis said for those not knowing how they are putting food on the table, the holiday period was very stressful.

“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,” said Davis.

OzHarvest founder & CEO, Ronni Kahn AO said 3.7 million households were 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,” said Kahn.

OzHarvest has also rolled out weekly donation collections into more than 600 Woolworths supermarkets.

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.

The OzHarvest Christmas Appeal will run until 26 December. Customers can purchase the Woolworths Dreamy Choc Chip Santa Cookies in stores and online, of which fifty cents from every pack is donated to OzHarvest.