Edmonton-area charity delivers aid across the Arctic

A cargo container filled with staple foods, canned goods, a sewing machine, and an accordion has left St. Albert bound for the Inuvialuit hamlet of Ulukhaktok on Victoria Island—a journey that will take it 3,500 kilometres through Whitehorse, across the Beaufort Sea, and finally by barge to its destination.

The shipment is part of the North of 60 Project, a Society of St. Vincent de Paul initiative led by retired Catholic nun Sister Fay Trombley, based in Edmonton, and Inuvialuit volunteer Eileen Orysiuk. For the past 15 years, the project has supported nine Northwest Territories communities from the Mackenzie Delta to the Beaufort coast with food and essentials.

The transportation costs alone run into the tens of thousands of dollars, with high fuel prices and climate change continuing to strain food security in the region. The project operates entirely on volunteer effort and donations, with close collaboration from northern partners.

Darlene Nigiyok, food bank coordinator for Ulukhaktok, said up to 52 households benefit from the food bank each month, many with multiple generations in the home. "I and the Hamlet of Ulukhaktok are very grateful and appreciative to collaborate and partner with them," Nigiyok wrote in response.

Now 86, Trombley—who was honoured with the Governor General's Polar Medal in 2018 for her work—continues her effort as a pastoral leader. Each week she drives residents with mobility issues to church and prepares communal Sunday meals, baking homemade bread and yellow-leg geese prepared the way locals prefer.