The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Flin Flon's neediest residents face the prospect of the Lord's Bounty Food Bank potentially shutting down for good. Long-time board member Dennis Hydamaka says there are concerns that the state of the food bank building may force a departure. 'We have looked for other locations but we have not been successful,' he says. 'We have specific needs and we haven't found a place that could even come close to meeting those needs.' The food bank has never owned its own building, instead renting the lower level of a residence at 86 Hapnot Street beside the RCMP station. Hydamaka did not go into detail about his concerns over the building but said the board faces a decision this fall whether to vacate the facility. If that happens, and there is still no alternate location in the wings, the food bank will close its doors after 22 years in operation. 'Right now we're at a crossroads,' Hydamaka says sombrely. Hydamaka worries about the implications should the food bank have to shut down. 'It would mean that people, some people, would be going hungry, definitely,' he says, adding that this would lead to more crime as people go to desperate measures to feed themselves and their families. Hydamaka says the food bank has looked at three alternate locations but none have been suitable. The food bank has three basic requirements of any location. See 'Must' on pg. Continued from pg. First, it must include a fair-sized kitchen, since the food bank runs regular soup kitchens and prepares homemade soup for clients. Given the constant loading and unloading of food, the food bank must also be on ground level. And the facility must have an electrical system able to accommodate several fridges and deep freezers where much of the incoming food is stored. Up to 500 area residents rely on the food bank each year. To ensure they are legitimately in need, clients are required to prove their income. Hydamaka's preference, of course, is to stay open _ and he is personally hopeful that will happen. Donations drop Concerns with the building aside, Hydamaka worries over the significant drop in food donations the non-profit has experienced this year. Volunteer food drives on behalf of the food bank, once a common occurrence, have dried up. And the 2011 closure of Extra Foods, once the food bank's largest donor, is still felt. 'Fortunately, we do have some financial resources to tap into and that's what we've been doing pretty well all this fiscal year _ buying food, and we just buy the basics,' says Hydamaka. 'So the quantity of food, the amount of food in each hamper, has diminished because we don't have a lot of the things that (used to be) donated.' Thankfully, the drop on donations have not coincided with a spike in demand. Food bank usage is actually down 12 per cent so far this year. Could that change at any moment? As food bank volunteers have seen too often in the past, the answer is yes. Hydamaka asks anyone with suggestions on new locations for the food bank to contact him at 204-687-7242.
