CBC Thunder Bay Sounds of the Season: KBM Resources touches down in Nibinamik
CBC News | Posted: December 15, 2017 7:37 PM | Last Updated: December 15, 2017
Company supplying aircraft to transport food to Nibinamik First Nation, about 500 km north of Thunder Bay
A plane supplied by KBM Resources Group carrying food for a remote northwestern Ontario First Nation has touched down as part of CBC Thunder Bay's 2017 Sounds of the Season.
The Cessna 206 aircraft landed in Nibinamik, a community about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., carrying cases of food as well as a box of books.
Nibinamik is one of eight communities being supplied by the donations raised through the Sounds of the Season initiative. The food was supplied by a number of organizations, businesses and individuals.
The food donated to Nibinamik will be used for the community's feast on Christmas Day — which is held every year — community officials told CBC News after the plane landed on Friday.
Residents will gather and cook the food together, said Nora Wapoose, the executive secretary to Nibinamik's chief and council, adding that the supplies will be a nice addition to staples like bannock and macaroni and cheese. "Everybody pitches in by cooking and providing what they can, like a potluck," she said. "In the past we've had just the basic stuff."
Wapoose said people in Nibinamik can struggle with getting enough to eat as the high cost can be prohibitive. Having her community be part of Sounds of the Season was really nice, she added.
"I think it means a lot because it came in," she said. "It's not every day that we get food flown in, so it's a big help."
The eight First Nations who are receiving food are not easily accessible, meaning it's more expensive to transport even basic goods that far north. Staples like fruit, vegetables and fresh milk can be hard to come by for families.