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Food banks across the territory are preparing for the holiday season, and the people running them have some advice for people who are thinking of donating this year: keep it simple.

鈥淜D, soups, cans of beans鈥攖he basic things are safe because they鈥檙e always in need,鈥� says Laura Rose, manager of the Hay River Soup Kitchen, which operates a food bank for the community. 鈥淢oney鈥檚 good when you don鈥檛 know what to get.鈥�

At some food banks, money鈥檚 preferable. Margaret Miller, the treasurer for the Inuvik Food Bank, says her organization鈥檚 shelves are full of donated food but money is needed to pay for the food they put into flats for clients.

The flats are a new item for the Inuvik Food Bank, containing ground beef, a half-dozen eggs, rolled oats or biscuit mix, chicken noodle soup and potatoes. The bank charges clients $10 for each flat, which itself contains about $40 worth of food.

鈥淲hen we were just handing out food to everybody, we were handing out between 100 and 110 bags every Wednesday,鈥� says Miller. 鈥淲e just couldn鈥檛 sustain that.鈥�

鈥淭he board thought that if we just charged a small user fee and increased the nutrition value of what they were getting, it would hopefully make the clients feel that they鈥檙e contributing to their own well-being.鈥�

Now the bank gets close to 45 clients each week when it鈥檚 open, on Wednesdays.

鈥淲e buy our goods [for the flats],鈥� says Miller. 鈥淭o do that, we fundraise and work bingos to gather money. Food is expensive up here.鈥�

Miller says there is plenty of support from the community in terms of donated food鈥攖he local justice committee gathers food around town in November, East Three Secondary School does a drive in December and the bank also collects food and money donations at a local craft sale at the end of November. All these items go on the 鈥渇reebie shelf,鈥� from which clients are typically allowed to choose four items.

鈥淥ur freebie shelves are in very good shape,鈥� says Miller, and because of this the bank will be letting people take five items from the shelves per visit throughout December.

Back in Hay River, Rose says the soup kitchen is doing well enough to almost keep on top of demand鈥攚hich can be up to 60 people coming by for hot lunches, and 20 to 25 people for food from the bank.

鈥淲e are actually doing better than we鈥檝e done ever,鈥� says Rose, crediting the work of the soup kitchen鈥檚 board. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still not quote 'on top of it' but we鈥檙e getting very close to being on top of it.鈥�

Right now, Rose is putting together plans for a big feast the Friday before Christmas, at which she expects 60 people or more to show up.

鈥淭urkey and ham and the whole nine yards,鈥� says Rose. 鈥淚 usually get some Christmas baking done. Oh yes, I put on a feast over here.鈥�