The Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre calls it a “worst-case scenario nightmare.
Due to a lot of damage, the Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre in Iqaluit has had to stop serving its daily meal and cancel all of its events.
Rachel Blais, the head of the food bank, said that the building ran out of fuel on the weekend when no one was there. Because of this, a lot of pipes burst, and the industrial dishwasher, washing machine, and faucets broke. It also broke the toilets, sinks, and water pump.
Blais said, “This is like a worst-case scenario nightmare that keeps me up at night, and it actually happened.”
The food bank’s community meal, which is served five days a week, usually feeds between 450 and 500 people each day in the city of about 8,000 people. The food bank is now sending out hampers, with some going out on Wednesday and more on Friday. They are also looking for a second place to cook.
“We can’t make food here. We don’t have bathrooms or water that runs all the time,” “Blais said, adding that the water main and sewer line are still frozen solid.
“Plumbers have been here for the last two days working very hard to get water back into the building, but they haven’t been able to do so.”
Fuel tank ran dr
Blais said that the food bank’s fuel tanks have been filled automatically for years without any problems.Now, she said that other people have told her that they ran out of gas before their tanks could be filled.
“It seems to be happening to a lot of people and groups all over town,” she said.
In an email, Peter Mackey, the general manager of Uqsuq Corporation, said that two tankers arrived at the end of December and that deliveries had to stop until the tankers were unloaded.
He said that some customers have run out of gas. This is because the recent cold weather has caused people to use more gas than usual.
“The autofill program doesn’t make sure we won’t run out of gas because we can’t keep track of how much fuel each building uses,” Mackey wrote.
He said that customers can check how much fuel is in their tanks and call Uqsuq if they need more.
Costs and a time frame for repairs are not known
Blais said that she hopes they’ll be able to start cooking again in about a week if they can find a new place to cook. She didn’t know how long the building would be out of service.
She said, “It could be weeks or months; we don’t know.” “We’re doing everything we can to find other options.”
They haven’t figured out how much it will cost to fix everything yet, but she said they could be looking at a bill of tens of thousands of dollars. The industrial dishwasher alone is worth $10,000.
“As a registered charity, a big cost like having to fix up the whole building would be disastrous for the group,” she said.
“We hope that the insurance companies will find a way to work together.”
Call your MLA, says Blai
Blais said that the situation should be a “wake-up call” for the territorial and federal governments because so many people use the center every day.
She said that they have had to turn away neighbors and other people in the community who still come to the food bank every day.
“It’s really hard to have to tell them there will be no food today,” she said.
“Families, kids, and old people all depend on this meal. So it’s a big loss for everyone.”
She said that people who are worried about how this will affect them should call their MLA and tell them how worried they are that so many people depend on one charity group for food.
“We can’t rely on just one charity for this,” she said. “As we’ve seen, it leaves the community very vulnerable.”