Iqaluit’s food bank still homeless

The Niqinik Nuatsivik Nunavut Food Bank has a permanent phone number, but is still seeking a permanent place to call its own.

Time is running out at the little yellow house next door to First Steps Daycare, which Qikiqtaaluk Corp. and Qikiqtani Inuit Association donated temporarily after a sprinkler system breakdown flooded the blue dome building that housed the food bank and the soup kitchen for two years.

A new tenant will take over House 1047 in July, which means the food bank and the soup kitchen have just two weeks to find a new location.

At the food bank’s annual general meeting last weekend, Inuit Broadcasting Corp. offered its office space on Airport Road as a distribution location. But IBC has no storage room, which means staff will still have to shuttle food from the RCMP hangar and the Northwestel garage before giving it to clients.

Food bank secretary Jen Hayward says the group will appeal to town council at their June 22 meeting for a permanent storage and distribution location, and says she is “optimistic” that a solution will be found.

At the meeting, Niqinik Nuatsivik announced a new voice messaging service, courtesy of Northwestel. In emergencies, donors, volunteers and clients can call 979-4242 and leave messages, which will be checked daily.