Students at East Three Secondary School are competing for a good cause this holiday season as they ramp up their annual food bank donation drive this month.
Students began bringing food in at the start of the month and will continue until Dec. 13, with the top collecting class winning a pizza party for their efforts. As of Dec. 10, the school was approaching 100 items collected.
"This week, the teachers at the end of each day tell me how many donations they got, then I announce which class is in the lead the next morning," said principal Krista Cudmore. "Hopefully, first thing on Monday we'll know who the winning group is and have the donations ready to go."
A brainchild of the school's monthly professional learning committee days, the drive was proposed by the school's Social Responsibility Committee many years ago and has been a staple of the school's holiday spirit ever since.
It's a welcome addition for a town that shares the last line of defense against starvation between two food banks.
"We had to change our schedule to being open bi-weekly, so we co-ordinate with the Arctic Food Bank (operating out of the Midnight Sun Mosque) so there's always a food bank open at least once a week," said Inuvik Food Bank board member Kimberly Campbell. "We had to cut costs just to keep our doors open. It was a lot of cutting out and thinking of healthy alternatives to what we were cutting out.
"Now that we're open bi-weekly, we've cut ourselves down to a more-manageable situation than before. But we also have to think we are a food bank and we can't manage our numbers every month."
Campbell noted the food bank had to rework the contents of some of its baskets to keep up with food costs, which can be quite daunting this far north.
Most recently, the food bank removed two canned items as well as coffee, tea and juice. Recipients now must choose between either sliced meat or cheese. The small change makes a big difference in the accounting, reducing the cost of each hamper from $108 to $76 each and bringing the month-to-month cost of the hampers to roughly $13,000 as opposed to $21,600. This is on top of a $10 per hamper bag handling fee the food bank levies — supplementary bags are still free.
Campbell noted the high costs of food in the north, notably canned food, makes keeping people fed a constant challenge. She said the food bank is always in need of volunteers and donations to keep people healthy.
"We always need volunteers for unpacking and for Wednesdays. Tuesdays is also a big day for bagging," she said. "Cash donations are always appreciated, because that way we can purchase items we know we need to make hamper and supplementary bags."
Anyone interested in volunteering or donating can contact the Inuvik Food Bank on its Facebook page.
The Inuvik Drum reached out to the Arctic Food Bank for comment but did not receive a response as of press time.