SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After months of work a downtown satellite distribution hub and borrowed cargo van are helping the YK Food Bank serve more people.

Don Palosaari, left, Sandra Nielson, Janine Jenken, Joanne Teed, vice-president of the Yellowknife Food Bank, are seen distributing food from the Kam Lake warehouse in February. Teed said the food bank's move to the Side Door Youth Ministries building enabled by a van loaned from the Food Rescue charity group will enable the group to serve downtown customers who haven't been able to get across town to Kam Lake. - NNSL file photo

Food bank president Brad Carlson has been saying a downtown office would be established in order to accommodate clients that are unable to access the food baskets distributed out of the Kam Lake warehouse since late last year. Finally, the deal has been struck.

"Starting July 4 we're going to be distributing out of the rear entrance of the Side Door Youth Ministries building, right next door to Overlander where we used to be," he said, adding that the group needed to find a way of transporting some 150 baskets twice a month to Side Door. The Food Rescue charity, Carlson said, has stepped up to loan the food bank its van in order to connect the dots.

"They have a large van and they've agreed to let us use the van to transport food ... so it's kind of a collaboration of three organizations, the Side Door, Food Rescue and us," said Carlson.

Carlson said the move will help the food bank to serve some of their old customers.

"It's great," he said. "We've had a lot of people say they couldn't get down, didn't have a ride," he said. "Now we're downtown and hopefully it'll be more accessible. We'll be able to distribute more food to more clients."

The food bank will set up shop in the kitchen area of the Side Door building and will hand out the food out the back door, said Carlson. For now the food bank will get to use the youth ministry's building for free, although that could change, he said.

"There's no rent, although if we encounter extra expenses in winter time with heat concerns with that door opening all the time we're open to compensating them for that," he said.

The food bank's second in command, vice-president Joanne Teed, said food bank administrators were looking at a number of downtown locations but felt the Side Door building was perfect, especially since it's located right next to its old satellite location.

Margaret Henderson, treasurer for the Food Rescue board, said board members decided to loan the van to the food bank cause at a recent meeting.

"They are going to use our van to transport downtown on Saturday," she said, adding that the Food Rescue board meets about once a month to make decisions regarding the registered charity that has been operating since 2008.

"We collect food from grocery stores and other businesses and we distribute it to organizations who help either homeless people or socially or nutritionally disadvantaged people," she said, adding that the organization provided around 177,000 kilograms of food to city distributors last year.

Side Door is among the organization's list of clients, as well as the Centre for Northern Families, elementary schools, YWCA transitional housing and senior citizens. The food is collected from the three major grocery stores in town.

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