'We need more food': CBC Sounds of the Season adds 4th plane to 2017 campaign

Many families face challenges when it comes to access to affordable food, especially in remote communities in northwestern Ontario.

Last year, CBC Thunder Bay's Sounds of the Season initiative was able to fill one plane full of food and bring it up to the residents of Sandy Lake First Nation — about 600 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.

"Food is very, very expensive up north," Sandy Lake Chief Bark Meekis said in a 2016 interview, "maybe three or four times as high as down south."

The community of only 2,000 people received approximately 10,000 pounds — or 4,536 kilograms — of food last year, but this year, the campaign is going even bigger and better. 

The goal for this year's campaign is to fill up to four planes with food by Friday, Dec. 15 and send them up to six different remote communities: Sandy Lake, Kasabonika, Weagamow (North Caribou Lake), Sachigo Lake, Neskantaga and Marten Falls.

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• On the ground! Plane loaded with donated food arrives in Sandy Lake First Nation

"It's that time of year when all of Thunder Bay comes together to help neighbours, across our region, who are hurting," Regional Food Distribution Association Executive Director Volker Kromm said.

Fourth plane donated

Wasaya, North Star Air, and Perimeter Aviation have donated the use of airplanes for the cause, and on Wednesday Kromm said that "another carrier has come forward" to help.

"KBM Forestry Consultants has provided us with a plane ... so we can do our good work," Kromm said.

With food related illness like diabetes on the rise, Kromm said the RFDA has been building partnerships with some remote communities and working on a strategy to get emergency food to families in need. 

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He said this one event alone will help serve "close to ... 6000 people ... [with] a large percentage of that [being] children."

'We need food'

Although more planes mean more helping hands which in turn means more food for families in the north, Kromm said that also means they need more "non-perishable food" and cash donations to help fill the planes and make this year's goal a reality.

"We need food, quite frankly, non-perishable foods because ... we need about 6,000 more pounds to divide up between the six communities to make up the variety and the type of food they will need," Kromm said.

With about a week left untill the big day on Dec. 15, Kromm said he wants to challenge retailers, wholesalers and individuals in Thunder Bay, Ont. to contribute as many non-perishable food or cash donations as possible.

"The day of [Dec. 15] we have to have those planes ready and loaded and on their way early in the morning," Kromm said, so ideally, donations should be made prior to Friday Dec. 15, if possible.

DONATE

Online to the Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA)

By phone, call 1-855-CBC-SOTS (1-855-768-7222)

In person food and monetary donations collected at:

RFDA - 570 South Syndicate Ave, Thunder Bay, ON.
CBC Thunder Bay live broadcast on Friday December 15 from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Thunder Bay International Airport