The mother of a five-year-old girl who died canoeing is part of a growing effort to make Christmas in Churchill a very special one this year.
In May, flooding washed out parts of the railway track, the only ground transportation to the northern town. Since then food prices have soared and some store shelves have been left bare.
More than l,000 kilometers south in the Rural Municipality of Rosser near Winnipeg Toni deLaroque is working to solve that problem with a food drive.
Saturday deLaroque and volunteers gathered in her garage to pack up and ship 110 hampers for families in Churchill.
"Right now it’s really really dire for them so why wouldn't we make it an extra effort," she said.
deLaroque’s organizing the drive in part to give back to people in Churchill and keep her daughter, Danica's memory alive.
Danica, 5, died in Churchill in the summer of 2016. deLaroque said Danica was in a canoe with her father and younger brother Connor watching belugas when they capsized.
"Just very loving and kind and sweet and just a beautiful little girl,” she said. "When we lost our daughter, Churchill lost our daughter. They grieved for our daughter and they were absolutely fabulous reaching out … If I lost my family I wouldn’t be getting out of bed. I owe it to them.”
deLaroque said her husband and son Connor lived thanks to emergency responders and wants to make sure everyone there has a very merry Christmas.
The hampers are meant to last families through the holiday. They come with Christmas foods like gravy and cranberry sauce and staples like cereal and peanut butter.
On Monday the hampers will be shipped on a truck to Thompson before they're flown to Churchill.
Up in Churchill, more hampers and a community feast for 500 people on December 23rd is being organized with the help of donations from companies across the province.
"It’s very heartwarming. Sometimes we don't know if people outside the community care about us. Now we do know," said community feast organizer Helen McEwan.
McEwan said the idea for the dinner sparked after some people in town got worried some families wouldn't have a turkey dinner this year.
McEwan said feeding a family in Churchill costs about $100 a day, and even with a subsidy four litres of milk is $11.
