Arviat (Apr 02/03) - The new Arviat food bank opened its doors March 27 and those doors will remain open for an hour a day from Monday to Friday.

The mayor of Arviat, Peter Kritaqliluk, met with representatives of the Niqinik Nuatsivik Nunavut Food Bank in Iqaluit last week to discuss setting up a similar organization in the Kivalliq community.

Kritaqliluk said the hamlet has already set aside office space in its building for a food bank, it just needed to figure out how to run it.

"The mayor and his senior administrator asked a lot of questions about how the food bank is run," said Peter Irniq, temporary chair of the Nunavut Food Bank.

Irniq said the volunteers in Iqaluit want to help communities across the territory set up food banks.

For Kritaqliluk, the need in Arviat is obvious.

"You always hear people over the CB radios in homes throughout the community asking to borrow food. I hear mothers wanting to borrow flour, sugar and lard," he explained.

In fact, he said that small "food banks" already exist in the community. Kritaqliluk said they've been operating out of people's homes for years.

When Kritaqliluk became mayor in January of this year, he decided to organize the food bank a little more so that everyone knew where to access food.

A radio announcement was made asking anyone interested in helping at the food bank to attend a meeting. A committee has already been set up and food has been ordered through the Northern. "We ordered some basic food in bulk with some surplus money and got a discount. Once it arrives, we'll open the doors," said Kritaqliluk. The mayor said the hamlet's contribution is a one-time donation.