A group of Apex residents banded together to open an emergency food bank after hearing that some of their neighbours were in needed. (Photo by Livete Ataguyuk)

By Livete Ataguyuk

A group of residents in Apex has come together to provide emergency food boxes for their neighbours who are in need.

“When we started, there was a need in the community to introduce not necessarily a food bank but an emergency food box to families in need,” said co-ordinator Patience Sibanda.

“We live in Apex and have our own Facebook group called Apex Emergency Food Bank outside of the Iqaluit Public Service Announcements pages.”

It’s a small group of people who are involved, ranging from a few to a half dozen or so depending on the day. Sibanda said the effort started March 2 after Apex residents began posting on Facebook that they were in need of food but had difficulty getting to the food bank in Iqaluit.

Sibanda said group members heard stories of taxi cab drivers not wanting to go to Apex to pick up calls. So, she said, they took action, starting the food bank that is based at her house.

“In the first week, we delivered seven boxes to seven homes and a total of 53 people that signed up,” she said.

“As you can imagine that is a large group of people.”

The group received $8,000 from the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, a humanitarian agency of the Seventh-day Adventist Church that works with communities across Canada and around the world to end extreme poverty and deliver emergency relief.

“Our group is going to register as a not-for-profit organization so that we can receive donations, whether it’s money or food, because there is definitely a need and we can’t stop this now that we started,” Sibanda said.

“We ask volunteers in Apex to package the emergency food or [people can] come up to pick up the food at a specific location.”

Sibanda said demand for the group’s services is growing beyond Apex but for right now, it’s only serving the one area of Iqaluit. But with that demand has come an “overwhelming” amount of support, she said.

“We didn’t expect it to blow up,” Sibanda said.

“We got some money from the church and said let’s help the community. We knew that there was a need, and the need is bigger than we anticipated.”

Original source: https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/apex-residents-open-food-bank-to-help-neighbours/