Lionhearts Inc. began in 2014 in Kingston Ontario when Founder and CEO Travis Blackmore, a former touring musician turned retail manager, had the opportunity to partner with Costco to rescue thousands of pounds of produce. A friend who worked there introduced him to the store's manager who agreed to donate unsold produce, on the condition that Travis showed up every day, at the same time, sorted it off-site, didn't sell it, and made sure it was given to those who were struggling.

The first load, 800 pounds of strawberries, was quickly given to local frontline agencies. That day set the tone for everything Lionhearts would become: rescuing what would have been wasted and putting it in the hands of people who need it most.  

From those early days, the food recovery program grew to include partnerships with bakeries, grocery stores, event venues, and national suppliers; building a network that kept more food out of landfills and into the hands of people in need. With this foundation in place, Lionhearts expanded into Ottawa in 2018 with the opportunity to rescue even more. 

The Pandemic Pivot 

When the pandemic hit 2020, the need changed overnight as many frontline meal providing agencies closed due to the uncertainty. Lionhearts pivoted from simply recovering food to producing it by launching the Community Nutrition Program, which created and distributed more than 345,000 meals during the height of COVID-19. What began as meals served in local parks evolved into an ongoing operation that now produces thousands of meals each week for shelters and frontline agencies. 

This period also saw the opening of shared warehouse space in Kingston in partnership with the City of Kingston, and the United Way of Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox, and Addington, providing Lionhearts and other food charities the capacity to store, sort, and distribute larger-scale donations to charities across the region. 

Post Pandemic  

Since the pandemic, Lionhearts has also become a frontline service provider, opening an emergency warming shelter and later the Adelaide Shelter, which offers 55 beds nightly and seasonal overflow space. Additional programs were launched, including transitional housing to help people stabilize and vocational training in laundry and culinary skills to prepare them for employment.  

Most recently, Lionhearts expanded into London, Ontario, beginning with food rescue and household goods donations from our partners in Amazon and quickly building partnerships to serve the local community.  

Today, Lionhearts operates in multiple cities, recovering millions of dollars in food and household goods every year, all provided free of charge to agencies, shelters, and community programs. Visit the Programs tab to learn more about our current programming and where we currently operate.  

At every stage, our work is driven by one simple, unwavering vision: the eradication of hunger and homelessness.