Waterloo and Kitchener businesses team up to give back to hungry local families

Businesses in Kitchener and Waterloo teamed up with others around the area to give back to local families this holiday season.

Metal Supermarkets, a metal supply chain, had the idea to show gratitude to the community by teaming up with a number of local businesses to provide funds and food to those in need.

“All the food banks are dwindling. There's not much more,” said Metal Supermarkets Kitchener/Waterloo Manager Lexi Lorentz. “For us, it's just so important to be able to give to these families that are in our community and that need help this year.”

The business put out the call to other businesses between the two cities. Stores like NoFrills and Estas Chocolates stepped up to help.

“Whenever something like this comes along, I’m very happy to be able to give back,” said Paul and Mallory’s NoFrills owner Paul Doyle.

Busra Hacioglu, store manager of Estas Chocolates, shared Doyle’s sentiment.

“It's the holiday season. It's a time for people to celebrate. It's time [to be] together with your family, eating together, eating something delicious. Everyone deserves that,” said Hacioglu.

Donations included turkey, produce and desserts.

“Being able to do this, being able to donate the turkeys and the product is just something that's on brand,” said Doyle.

The food is packed into bags and given directly to those who need it.

“Our staff is going to be delivering the bags to people,” said Lorentz. “Anybody that contacts us in need will stay anonymous. It's so hard to ask for help.”

Lorentz told CTV News on average one meal for a family will cost less than $20.

“For $20 a family, we can help so many people,” said Lorentz.

This is the first time Metal Supermarkets has put together this initiative and Lorentz said she hopes to make it an annual tradition.

“Next year, we are going to present challenges to our other Metal Supermarket shops,” said Lorentz. “[We’re going to say] hey, this year we fed this many families. How many can you feed?’ We're going to put the challenge out there.”