Hamilton non-profit struggles as major grocery donations end suddenly

For 20 years, The Hamilton Dream Center has relied on a simple handshake to keep its shelves full. But that long-standing partnership with local grocery stores just came to a sudden and very quiet end.

“We had five stores and now we’ve gone down to one store,” said Rebekah Hill, executive director of The Hamilton Dream Center.

The Hamilton Dream Center says it’s facing a major shortage after losing most of its grocery store donations.

The non-profit serves about 250 people each week — mostly seniors and working families struggling with rising costs. But now, its main source of food is gone.

Hill says for two decades, verbal agreements with local Food Basics stores provided damaged but still safe food, making up about 90 per cent of what they distributed. Now, only one store remains.

“It was shocking, really shocking, after 20 years to find out, nope, sorry, not you anymore,” said Hill.

Hill says there was no warning. They only realized the donations had ended when the usual pick-up calls stopped coming.

The change is coming from the top.

Parent company Metro Inc. says it is centralizing surplus distribution through a partner who is taking over donations to food banks.

Metro tells CHCH News it remains committed to supporting food banks across Ontario.

It stated, “Through One More Bite, METRO’s food recovery program, our Hamilton stores recover unsold food and donate it to local food banks partnered through Feed Ontario, including The Hamilton Food Share. This program has been in place in Hamilton since 2019.”

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The dream center is not part of the Hamilton Food Share network.

Despite losing four of their five grocery partners, Hill says giving up isn’t an option. They’re staying open because every month, nearly 1,000 people rely on them for food.

“We do have other things to give – one would be the bread from COBS Bakery. Amazon gives us cleaning products and we do get meat from a grocery store. We have enough to help, we just don’t have an abundance. And what that means is our food bank supply looks different when they come in to shop, but we’ll still be here. We have no plans of closing,” said Hill.

Local residents are watching the empty shelves with growing concern.

“It’s really concerning. I mean, we all know how much groceries cost these days and I think people need help more than ever before,” said one local resident.

“I think it’s a difficult time — difficult for seniors on a limited income,” said another resident.

After sharing their struggle on social media, the response was instant – a big overwhelming response from the community.

“The community is rallying around us and doing food drives and sending in some cash so we can buy groceries. So it’s been a pleasant experience in spite of the difficulty,” said Hill.

The dream center is now seeking new suppliers and says it urgently needs staples like cereal and rice. You can visit The Hamilton Dream Centre website to learn how to help.

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