Sahtu residents open to MLA's food bank idea. But who will do the work?

Heather Bourassa says the food bank she helps run from the basement of the church in Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., has the potential to do more for the community – if it were to have more support. 

She and her friend, Nadine Tatchinron, volunteer to make up food hampers as they're needed. They don't advertise what they do – and they respond to referrals and requests for help. 

"There's definitely a need for the groceries. For, like, homes with unemployment, or just because of the high cost of living. Definitely we have requests for food on a regular basis," she said. 

Sahtu MLA Danny McNeely said he wants to build off existing services – like the food bank in Fort Good Hope, but also the pantry in Norman Wells – as he pushes ahead with his idea for setting up a food hub in the region. That hub would store donated food for distribution on a regular basis to the other four Sahtu communities. 

Food Banks Canada is partnering with McNeely on the idea. Two representatives of the organization who travelled the Sahtu region with McNeely and Nutrition North Canada last week said one of their goals is to identify a champion in each community who will help them set it up.

Nolan Wadsworth-Polkinghorne, a northern programs officer for Food Banks Canada, knows human capacity will be a challenge. 

"People in the North wear a lot of different hats all the time and it's, I think, something I've come to greatly admire about folks," he said. "What I hope to do is make myself available ... and supportive so that we can make things as easy as possible."

McNeely, who also knows capacity might be a challenge, wants to get a co-ordinator to oversee the project.

Food Banks Canada says it can fund part-time staff related to some of its grants, but it can't support full time staff. McNeely said he's talking to Nutrition North Canada about splitting the cost of the position between the territorial and federal governments. 

"We're going to explore and exhaust all options to have a staff member representing the Sahtu region," he said. 

There aren't a lot of details about what, exactly, a food distribution hub in the Sahtu would look like. 

Jason Stevens, the northern network manager for Food Banks Canada, said one of the next steps is to make sure each community is on board with the idea. 

Other steps include letting funders and stakeholders know about the project and ironing out where, exactly, the hub would be. Stevens said Norman Wells is one option being discussed, because of the ability to ship cargo by plane. 

Food Banks Canada has said it will supply the food to the hub, while Matt Bender, an outreach manager with Nutrition North Canada who also joined the tour last week, said his department could subsidize the cost of transporting donated food by $3 per kilogram.