HAY RIVER - The Hay River Soup Kitchen has yet to move into its new home, months beyond when it had hoped to be relocated.

"The problem comes with taking the giant step from this wee little place over to something better," said Laura Rose, president of the Hay River Soup Kitchen, while sitting in the old Highways camp trailer that has been the service's home for about 15 years. "That always creates all kinds of issues that you never know until you hit them, like bumps in a road."

It had been hoped the Soup Kitchen would have been in its new home - an $89,000 used trailer - on the grounds of Assumption Roman Catholic Church by the end of October. Its old trailer sits on an adjacent lot along with the Hay River Community Youth Centre.

The moving delay has been caused by a number of things, including a lack of funding.

Rose estimated about $15,000 more is needed to complete the move.

That would pay for adding steps to the main 12x54-foot trailer and completing the interior of a 12x24-foot addition.

Rose said Father Don Flumerfelt of Assumption Roman Catholic Church has become guardian angel for the Soup Kitchen.

"He's found somebody, who will remain anonymous - I don't even know who it is - who has offered to donate $10,000, if we can match it up," she said.

Rose is now looking for community support to raise $10,000 to match the offered donation.

She said a contractor has assured her the Soup Kitchen's new home will be ready to move into by the end of this month.

Aside from community support, the Soup Kitchen receives an annual grant of $10,000 from the GNWT. It also received a $60,000 donation from the Hay River Royal Canadian Legion to help buy the larger trailer.

The delay in moving has also been caused by problems with a previous contractor.

"Oh, it's been crazy," Rose said. "It's just kind of one thing after another and now we've hit some more issues with a contractor and the board with it taking so long. Now we've got the heat and power going into two units and we're not producing much out of either one of them."

In fact, she said hot meals have not been served at the old trailer for two weeks, because of some frozen pipes after skirting was taken off the trailer by a board member.

"We all thought we were going to be there before the really cold weather hit," she said.

Only coffee and bannock is being served, and the old trailer has been opened to give people a place to warm up.

"The community is hurting out there," Rose said. "This is the time this place really gets used the most, and it may end up hurting a little more."

The Soup Kitchen served 3,902 hot lunches last year, the highest number in five years.

Rose said there has been frustration among board members because of the delay.

"It seems like we're all going in a multitude of different directions and it's been extremely trying on our board," she said, noting one member has already resigned.

The move by the Soup Kitchen is at the insistence of the Town of Hay River because the old trailer is located on land zoned commercial.

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