Shoppers encouraged to donate

Perth shoppers have a unique opportunity to reach out to others this Christmas.

A partnership between Foodbank, Anglicare and Hawaiian Group has led to giving boxes placed across Hawaiian's stores.

The 1.5m boxes are divided in two to encourage people to donate food and gifts to those in need.

Hawaiian chief Russell Gibbs said the initiative aimed to create awareness of the need for items this Christmas.

"The idea is to make people aware of the need at Christmas time and to engage with our customers in the areas where shopping outlets are," he said.

Anglicare chief Ian Carter said the need for donations this year was greater than ever.

"We are down on cash donations for the first time," he said.

"Even during the global financial crisis people still managed to give. We are operating at 60 per cent of the level we were last year."

Foodbank's Greg Hebble echoed Mr Carter's sentiment. "This year we are turning away 16,000 people a month from our agencies, which is startling," he said. "We feed 55,000 people a month Statewide. Last year we distributed 3.6 million meals to the people of WA and this year we will feed close to four million."

Shoppers are encouraged to drop food items and gifts into the giving boxes, to be rolled out across 10 Hawaiian outlets this month.

Hawaiian gave $10,000 in food and gifts to start the program.