Food donations on way to Rankin Inlet
Members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in Ottawa are this week packing two shipping containers full of donated food to send to Rankin Inlet as part of a project called North of 60.
The high cost of food in Rankin Inlet has made it difficult for some people to access nutritious meals, said Bernie Hartlin, who co-ordinates the North of 60 project in Ottawa.
"The more we can ship up there, the better their life is going to be. The more nutrition value the children are going to have, the better learning skills they're going to get," he said.
Volunteers are also sending baking materials to allow people to continue making traditional foods.
"Bannock is what they eat," said Hartlin. "And we're shipping the goods up in order for them to be able to make that. Flour, sugar and the other ingredients.
"If you were to buy a container of sugar — say a five- or six-pound sugar bag — [it would be] about $7 here ... [but] $32 up there."
Collecting since March
Since March, volunteers at 20 local Catholic parishes have been collecting specially requested items, including canned vegetables and fruits, to send to the west coast of Hudson Bay.
Other cities in Ontario are taking part in the initiative, which began in western Canada. They include Windsor, St. Catharines and Kitchener-Waterloo. Food will be sent to communities including Whale Cove, Nunavut, and Gjoa Haven, Nunavut.
"We were at an annual general assembly in Edmonton and we found out they were already doing this ... and they challenged us here in Ontario to do the same thing," Hartlin said.
The food shipped from the capital will help support about 40 different families.
"They're extended families," said Hartlin. "They can have anywhere from 20 to 30 people in one household."
The shipping containers are scheduled to leave Ottawa in mid-July and will arrive in Rankin Inlet at the end of October.
