Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Jan 12/00) - In today's society, people sometimes need a helping hand to make ends meet. And Rankin Inlet is no exception.

The Deacon's Cupboard Food Bank is now in its third year of operation and demands for its services have increased every year.

Rev. Dan Collado of Glad Tidings Church runs the food bank in co-operation with the local Anglican Church.

Collado has eight volunteers who help him run the service.

"We keep strict hours now, Tuesday evening from 5-7 p.m.," says Collado. "Our first year people would be phoning up at all hours and we ran out of food before winter."

The food bank opens for the coldest months of the year, October through April. Since opening in 1997, it has been accessed by more than 100 households.

The service provided 200 boxes of food its first year. That number rose to 250 in year two and Collado expects to provide 300 this year.

"There's always a concern of creating a dependency with a food bank, but we've regulated our service so we avoid that."

The Deacon's Cupboard doesn't allow frequent enough access or give enough food to its clients for them to become dependant. A household is only allowed one free visit per month. After that, a $20 "donation" is required for any visit.

"Our service is not a free-for-all. Our volunteers have a strict list as to what goes in a box, depending on the number of people in the household."

Collado says the spirit of co-operation towards the service has been wonderful in Rankin.

The efforts of others have helped to make his job easier.

"A big thank you has to go out to First Air and barge operators NTCL for the free freight they supply us with.

"My eight volunteers give an hour each of their time a month. Thanks to their efforts, I no longer have to work on Tuesday evenings, making the whole project that much more enjoyable for me."