The arrival of a special delivery in Churchill, Man. is giving local families something to look forward to this holiday season, as residents continue to wait for repairs to the town’s railway access.

More than 100 hampers were sent by chartered plane to the northern Manitoba town on Sunday, each of which contained toys and a full Christmas dinner, courtesy of the Manitoba Metis Federation.

"Everyone here is getting a hamper. Anyone we missed, a hamper will be shipped in,” David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF), told CTV Winnipeg.

“There are 110 families. We know that, without a doubt, they’re going to have a full Christmas turkey dinner on their table.”

Residents of Churchill have been struggling with soaring food prices for months due to damages along the town’s only supply route, the Hudson Bay railway, which collapsed due to flooding in May.

“Right now a jug of milk in Churchill is $12 and before the train went out it was $6. And it’s $12 with the subsidies that are applied to it already,” David Daley, president of Churchill’s Chamber of Commerce, told CTV Winnipeg. 

Without the rail line, Churchill’s economy has struggled. Jobs have been lost, fewer tourists are travelling north, and as many as 40 students have left Churchill’s school.

But a solution could be on the way soon. A new ice road, expected to open up later in December, will provide a temporary winter route to bring supplies into the community.

In terms of a lasting solution, Toronto-based investment firm Fairfax Financial has expressed interest in partnering with First Nations and northern communities to purchase both the rail line and the port.

Churchill Mayor Michael Spence said that model could provide a much-needed boost to the town.

“We are going through some pain for some long-term gain,” he said.

Lifelong Churchill resident Eleanor Sinclair told CTV Winnipeg that a repaired railway is her only Christmas wish.

The holiday gifts and food that Sinclair typically sends and receives at this time of year by train have been too expensive for her to ship via plane, which is why the Churchill resident says she’s grateful for the MMF’s holiday hampers.

“What everyone is doing to help Churchill is really so cool and greatly appreciated,” Sinclair said.

Along with the hampers, the MMF flew in entertainers to lift locals’ spirits ahead of the holidays, with a party at Churchill’s town centre. Musicians and volunteers led a crowd through Christmas carols before Santa hand delivered 200 toys to the town’s children. 

It was a much-needed reminder that the community hadn’t been forgotten, Churchill resident Rhoda DeMeulles said.

“It’s just been so hard for everybody in Churchill. We just felt like nobody cared anymore,” DeMeulles told CTV Winnipeg.

“[This] makes you feel better. It makes you feel alive again.” 

With a report from CTV Winnipeg’s Sarah Plowman