Inuk singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark sends 226 kilograms of food to Gjoa Haven

Susan Aglukark, an award-winning Ontario-based singer from Nunavut, is hoping her Christmas food collection campaign will help brighten the holiday season for people living in remote communities.

"It started about three Christmases ago as part of the Arctic Rose Fund," an organization Aglukark started to help assist Northern food banks.

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"The Christmas campaign is to ship dry food and goods to a registered Nunavut based food bank," she said.

Though Aglukark rarely shops at Nunavut's Northern stores these days, she says the motivation for this project is personal.  

"I'm from Arviat and Rankin, in that area, and we've always watched and witnessed families who are really, really struggling… to feed their families, and I always feel really bad at Christmas for those families."

This year, Aglukark is sending 226 kilograms of food to the food bank in Gjoa Haven, an Arctic community of roughly 1,300 people.

"We were able to collect $2,000, and $800 went to the cost of food, and the rest went to the cost of shipping the food."

Aglukark says $1,200 for shipping was actually a deal, and the reduced price was only possible because Canadian North agreed to ship the food at a discount.

Cargo backlog

The food has been purchased, packed and loaded, but whether it will make it to Gjoa Haven for the holiday season is anyone's guess.

"Unfortunately there is a backlog to ship things to Gjoa Haven, so Canadian North couldn't confirm the food would get there over the holidays, but did say it would get there by January."

Nevertheless, Aglukark is cautiously optimistic.

"Canadian North did say they're going to try and find a spot, but there is often a wait for the smaller communities."