On January 18, 2025, over 700 people gathered at the MCC Hub in New Hamburg to celebrate the grand opening of the new MCC Meat Cannery. This 10,000-square-foot facility is set to make a significant impact on vulnerable communities worldwide, with a goal of producing 50,000 cans of nutritious food annually for families in crisis.
The event was filled with energy and hope, as supporters, donors, and volunteers celebrated alongside MCC staff, local elected officials, and members of the local meat canning committees. Kitchener-Conestoga MP Tim Louis and Region of Waterloo Chair Karen Redman joined the festivities, marking this new chapter in MCC’s long-standing commitment to humanitarian aid.
Since 1947, MCC has been a trusted provider of canned meat for people caught in conflict and disaster. For decades, a mobile cannery served communities in the United States, Leamington and Elmira, drawing together the passion and generosity of local churches. But over time, regulatory challenges made it increasingly difficult to continue this tradition across the U.S./Canada border and the COVID-19 pandemic further complicated operations. These setbacks led to the inspired idea of building a permanent, stationary cannery—an investment that would provide a long-term solution to meet the rising need from MCC partners for canned meat due to disasters and food insecurity. As Jon Lebold, Material Resources Coordinator for MCC Ontario, explains, “We’ve got the space, the logistical efficiencies, and when we scale up, the impact will be huge.”
MCC Meat Cannery Manager Dylan Yantzi is proud of the new facility. Included within the modern setup are connections to local history including retorts (large pressure cookers) that once served at the Heinz factory in Leamington, as well as a 75-year-old can-sealing machine from a Montreal factory that continues to operate at modern standards.
Guests at the grand opening had the opportunity to tour the facility, learning about each step of the canning process from MCC staff. The tour ended with an invitation for visitors to share messages of support on fabric squares, which will be sewn together to create a comforter used in the prayers of sending for future shipments of canned meat.
MCC Ontario Executive Director Michelle Brenneman reflected on the day: “Today, we celebrated a big achievement, filled with lots of possibilities. The new cannery will not only strengthen MCC’s ability to meet emergency food needs, but also bring communities together through the hands-on work of meat canning”.
One of the many people helped by this program is Samuel Haki Innocent, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Samuel and his family live in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi, where MCC provides 11,520 cans of meat annually. “We only eat meat when there is a distribution of canned meat,” Samuel says. “We love the meat.”
With the new cannery, MCC is poised to provide even more vital food to families like Samuel’s. The grand opening of the MCC Meat Cannery is just the beginning—together, we will continue to make a lasting impact, one can at a time.