The holidays were merrier in Pond Inlet this year thanks to a major turkey hamper initiative at Ulaajuk Elementary School.
“What had happened was we received the funding from the Qikiqtani Inuit Association School Food Program,” said principal Sandra Rutledge, “and I received a budget that I had to spend within a certain amount of time. We had wanted to open up a food bank at our school, or a giveaway, and I said to my staff, ‘This is the perfect time.’
"We have really bad food insecurity going on right now in Pond Inlet... it’s worse right now for a variety of different reasons. Just people unable to work. We’ve got 24-hour darkness right now so a lot of mental health [problems] and depression... it is not good right now.”
Rutledge spent $56,000 on 350 turkeys, hams, baked potatoes, boxes of stuffing, oranges and cans of vegetables through the 黑料吃瓜网 Store. She then spent an additional $45,000 on a food bank.
“We had the gym completely covered with food. Tables [were] set up, and they would walk to the different tables with different products on it,” she said of the residents who came through the facility.
In addition to the food, items for baking and instruction booklets were available.
“So it was just a 360 of food, from breakfast, to lunch, to dinner, to snacks, to everything,” said Rutledge.
“It was a lot of work. It took a whole plane to get all of the food up... we had a lunch at our school. All of the families and Elders came, and everyone got their turkey and ham, and then they could shop at our food bank, which was cereal, bread, canned vegetables, fruit — everything you could think of. So it was just a really, really nice day.”
In addition, the RCMP delivered food to those who couldn’t come in-person, including 24 turkeys to Elders, and “anything that was left over to the hamlet.
“When the families arrived, they thought it would just be a little bag, and they were shocked that it was a large box, plus bags for them to take home. So the RCMP came and loaded the food into the back of their pickup trucks and drove it to their house,” Rutledge said.
She described people “just coming in in tears — there was so much food for them. They have more than enough food... for over two weeks... every child [at the school] received a box of food.”
This means that families with multiple children received more rations.
The principal would like to repeat the experience next year, although she's worried about the funding coming through for Jordan’s Principle.
“It was such a hit, but I am worried about the funding... we have 307 students at Ulaajuk. We have a breakfast, lunch and snack program. On average, we have about 150 kids that eat out of our programs. We also make dinners to go for our kids. We know Jordan’s Principle is ending. They’ve promised something else is coming out, but I am going to have to get funding from different places. But yes, I would like to do a food bank twice a year and the turkey drive once a year.”
“It was really a perfect day... our school needs a bit of uplifting. This really helped our staff. They felt good about themselves. It was really quite nice.
“I’m tired. It’s the last day of school, but I’m telling you it was well worth the amount of work,” Rutledge concluded.
