The Inuvik Food Bank (IFB) installed a new lock and a lock box on its door after an alleged break-in and robbery last week.
Treasurer Margaret Miller said she called the RCMP around 11:30 p.m. April 9. Miller said the RCMP didn't have time to check on the building, so she decided to check on it herself in the morning.
She said she went into the IFB building the next morning and found food on the floor.
"In our back room where we make up the flats, there were some heads of lettuce on the floor, and some cheese packages and a case of eggs on the floor," she said. "Packages of ham were taken, but we aren't sure if any packages of cheese or eggs were taken."
Miller said she did not file a police report because nothing was damaged and she estimated less than $50 of food was taken.
"I thought it must have been someone that was hungry," she said. "There was no damage done, I thought they just wanted some food."
Angela McInnes, who also works at the food bank, said she is concerned about the alleged break-in and robbery because of past break-ins.
"This is not the only break-in we've had. It sounds like last time, in 2013, when we had a bunch of small break-ins, kids kept coming in, kicking the door in," said McInnes. "We'd find things like jars of spaghetti sauce thrown outside, smashed against things. It kept escalating, and in September 2013, we had a massive break-in. It was like a build-up toward it."
McInnes said she is concerned last week's alleged break-in could escalate.
"There was no damage when they started it last time, either. They brought the stuff outside to throw it around," she said.
Miller said a group of youth found packages of ham outside and brought them to Joey Amos, manager of the John Wayne Kiktorak Warming Centre on April 11. It is thought that the ham the youth found was taken from the IFB.
After the break-ins in 2013, the IFB installed a metal door that opens outward to prevent the door from being kicked in.
McInnes said the door has now shifted, leaving a gap between the bottom of the door and the door frame. She said the IFB's carpenter said the door could be pulled open from this gap, but the door cannot be re-hung properly until the snow melts.
McInnes said the door will be fixed later this spring.