Food bank in the works for Nain, hopes to open this fall

After a year of planning, a new food bank in Nainwill soon receive its first shipment of food.

The food bank will be one more way to improve food security in the northern Labrador community, where a Nunatsiavutsurvey released in May 2017 found that 79.4 per cent of residents were food insecure, meaning they experienced worry about or difficulty in accessing food on a regular basis.

It's a significant number, saidBrenda Jararuse, but not one that might be immediately obvious to people around the town of about 1,100.

"Ithink that a lot of the times a lot of the hunger is hidden because you don't just see it day to day when you're socializing or interacting with the community," said Jararuse, who is part of the group of people working to develop the food bank.

But even if the hunger is not immediately obvious, Jararusetold CBCRadio's Labrador Morning that she saw it herself in family, friends and community members growing up in Nain. She hopes that the food bank will help alleviate some of that food insecurity once it opens.

"Itjust feels really good to be able to help out people that we know," she said.

Plan began in January

The path to opening the food bank has had plenty of bumps along the way, Jararuse said.

After the Nunatsiavutfood insecurity survey came out, a group of people in the community decidedto see what they could do, she said. They first met to discuss opening a food bank in late January.

"A group of us just kind of got together and started throwing out ideas," she said.

However, once they connected with the Community Food Sharing Association, based in St. John's, it became clear how many factors would have to be put into place to get a food bank operational: an appropriate space, food storage, food shipment and insurance were just a few of the considerations.

"I think that we were all a little shook once we got off the phone with the Community Food Sharing Association because we just didn't really realize how much really went into an actual food bank," she said.

"It was a real eye-opener."

Hoping to open soon

However, the group was not discouraged and continued to work on making the food bank a reality. It's something the community needs, Jararuse said, to fill a gap not addressed by other local food security programs.

The group has now put a board of directors in place for the food bank and is working on getting the appropriate insurance, she said. A policy for the food bank is also in the works.

They also enlisted help from other places. "We're getting a lot of support from the Nunatsiavut government's Department of Health and Social Development," she said. The department has provided a space for the food bank and its storage needs.

Food for the food bank is on the way as well. Six pallets are coming from the Community Food Sharing Association, she said, and another is coming from a Thanksgiving weekend food drive.

It's too early to know what the need will really be, Jararuse said. The current plan is to distribute monthly and then assess requirements.

There are concerns about food costs in the winter, when only air shipments can come into Nain, she said, and the group is still fundraising and looking for potential support from individuals, businesses and other organizations.

If the pallets arrive as expected, the Nain food bank should open during the fall.

With files from Labrador Morning

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