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Impact of wild rice donation could be long-lasting

Part of a 52,000 pound donation may be used to support longer-term food security initiative.

THUNDER BAY – Moffat Makuto is hoping a large donation of wild rice will not only feed hundreds in northern communities, but help plant the seeds of longer-term food security.

52,000 pounds of rice is headed to First Nations across the region, some of which is intended to be used as seed for wild rice cultivation projects this summer.

Makuto, the executive director of the Regional Multicultural Youth Centre (RMYC), helped coordinate the donation, which was dropped off at the Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA) earlier this week.

The shipment was purchased by Kelly and Sarah Carrick, who live in southern Ontario but have ties to Thunder Bay. The family supports existing RMYC programs for Indigenous youth, and when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they were looking for other ways to help, said Makuto.

His organization worked with the RFDA, which coordinates regional food aid, to help store and distribute the food.

It’s a welcome boost as groups work to meet the growing need for assistance. Noel White, a mental health counsellor with the Matawa Health Co-op, was at the RFDA Tuesday morning loading up his pickup truck with boxes of rice.

The donations will be added to food hampers Matawa is distributing several times per week from its Court Street headquarters. White said the demand for support had boomed since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We always have calls from people looking for supplies – food, hand sanitizer, masks,” he said. “There’s a lot of need in the community, especially people from First Nations that are living here in town.”

The bulk of the rice, though, is headed to more remote First Nations throughout northern Ontario – some by truck, some by air to fly-in communities.

Volker Kromm, executive director of the RFDA, said it would be added to deliveries of fresh produce headed to First Nations next week. His organization works with remote communities across the region, from Constance Lake, near Hearst, to the Manitoba border.

Four shipping containers set up outside the RFDA’s main building testify to the growing need for support caused by the pandemic - the organization had begun running out of room in its main building.

Makuto is hoping the impact of the wild rice donation will go beyond immediate food aid. The RMYC is working with regional First Nations organizations like Matawa and Nishnawbe Aski Nation to identify communities that could use some of the wild rice as seed to support local cultivation efforts.

Makuto said the program could provide employment for youth in remote communities while boosting food security efforts.



Ian Kaufman

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