Lionhearts

Perhaps many will not have heard of LIONHEARTS.  This is a Kingston charitable organization driven by a deep desire to see all people living with human dignity and have spent the past 8+ years uniting people with practical acts of love.  They have created a program to invigorate and reinforce those local organizations at the forefront of food insecurity and homelessness by providing for the collection and distribution of surplus food, safely and efficiently.  Their new warehouse, the Community Food Redistribution Warehouse (CFRW), is a purpose built area where the surplus food collected by their vehicles is taken, inspected and redistributed to the well-known agencies in the City who deliver to those in need (shelters, Food by George, Martha’s Table, etc).  All the rejected food goes to local pig farmers. This warehouse has the capability to receive truckloads of surplus food from afar, inspect and distribute where needed in Kingston.  In Kingston, LIONHEARTS collect surplus food daily from Costco, Cobs Bread, Little Caesars Pizza, Starbucks, Findlay Foods, Mary Brown’s Chicken and others plus some institutional partners like hotels, hospitals, caterers, college/university and food service providers, etc.  The Partners list continues to expand as more join the city-wide program to eliminate wastage and provide for those individuals/families needing assistance.

LIONHEARTS also operate a large kitchen out of the Kingston Gospel Temple preparing meals for those agencies who deal directly with the hungry under their Community Nutrition Program.  Manned by well-known Kingston Chefs, they provide over 2,000 nutritious meal packages a week to the local food providing agencies, directly to shelters, regional food banks and community-based programs for distribution.  On top of that they process thousands of pounds of fresh produce into soups, sauces, salsas, salads, side dishes and much more for distribution. Recognizing the urgent need to provide support for the homeless and under-housed populations in Kingston, LIONHEARTS partnered with Kingston Street Mission, Homebase Housing, the City of Kingston and the KFLA United Way to create a drop-in space for 45 individuals and sleeping pods for 25 people each night through the winter months at the Concession Street Centre. 

Recently, they were able to partner with a similar group of agencies to convert a ‘retired’ north end school (Frontenac PS) to a similar Centre with 40 sleeping pods.  Both Centres are substance free and provide hot meals, warm winter gear, hygiene supplies, charging stations, internet access, program referrals, counselling and professional supports.

LIONHEARTS in involved with the Food Sharing Project and Kingston Rotary Clubs for the Children’s Weekend Wellness Program that delivers bi-monthly nutritious food boxes to 270 homes where children are experiencing severe food insecurity.  Some kids are hungry every day and hunger doesn’t take the weekend off!  They have also partnered with several of the city’s nightclubs for Project Cold War that have clientele who never return for their checked coats or outerwear.  They also collect thousands of coats, gloves, mittens, toques, scarves and other needed items which make excellent donations to the various shelters.

We strongly believe LIONHEARTS is making a significant contribution towards helping those experiencing food insecurity and/or are homeless in our area.  A fundraising event is scheduled for February 25th to support LIONHEARTS to continue their great work.  The “Coldest Night of the Year” is a family-friendly walk (2 or 5 kms) when ‘Teams’ or individuals walk to fundraise.  One can support a team, an individual or just the event.  Noting the walk was on her 80th birthday, Diane Davie decided this is what she wanted to do with her family for her birthday and entered her “Granny Diane’s 80th” Team.  Anyone interested in supporting this deserving cause can find more information at this link: https://cnoy.org/location/kingstonwestend                 

Individuals or formed groups can enter their own Team, on the above link.  It  doesn’t matter who or what Team enters but raising money for Lionhearts does matter.  Get involved, help raise money for Lionhearts to continue their good work in our community.