IQALUIT - When Cyrus Blanchet first began work with Iqaluit's soup kitchen in 2006, it involved loading soup onto the back of a truck at forty below. Meals had to be prepared in the kitchen of St. Jude's parish hall before being transported across town to a building near Iqaluit's Legion.

Nakasuk School principal Brian Manning in his office on Feb. 2. Manning is the first Nunavut recipient of Parks Canada's Ambassador in Education Award. - Kassina Ryder/NNSL photo

The parish hall lacked an eating facility, and the building near the Legion lacked a kitchen.

"I remember thinking, this is the craziest thing I've ever done," Blanchet said.

Now the Qayuqtuvik soup kitchen has a permanent home, complete with cooking facilities and a large sit-down area for people who need a warm meal. While the building has been functioning since September, the grand opening took place on Feb. 2.

Iqaluit needs a soup kitchen, according to mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik.

"The need is there very much," she said. "If there wasn't, this wouldn't have been established."

The high cost of living in Nunavut combined with the Arctic's extreme cold makes the kitchen vital for those who need a hot meal, Sheutiapik said.

"It's important, especially in our environment," she said.

The kitchen is operated by the Qayuqtuvik Society (a six-member board) and approximately 10 volunteers. Volunteer and board member Jerry Peet said since moving the kitchen to a central location, near the former site of Iqaluit's St. Jude's Cathedral, many more people have been visiting the kitchen.

"We're getting bigger crowds since we moved up here," he said.

Volunteers keep track of the number of people who use the kitchen each day. Fifty-seven adults and eight children visited the kitchen on Feb. 1, Peet said.

Volunteers make approximately 120 ham and cheese sandwiches every day, along with enough soup to provide 60 people with three bowls each, Peet said.

The building is also home to Iqaluit's Food Bank and a thrift store, which opened in November.

Iqaluit has had soup kitchens in the past, Blanchet said, but he hopes the new facility will be permanent fixture in Iqaluit.

"There have been soup kitchens come and go," he said. "We plan to be a permanent facility here."