Impact of Fiona: Feed Nova Scotia works to get food to those in need

While Fiona has left several Nova Scotians in the dark and without meals, Feed Nova Scotia is calling their response 'unprecedented' as they work to get food to those in need.

The need has been widespread as the storm caused many to be without access to cooking.

"Fiona is the biggest storm that we have experienced in terms of a food response," says Nick Jennery, the executive director of Feed Nova Scotia.

A major shipment was sent out by the organization Wednesday.

"We’ve sent 644 food boxes, so these are one week boxes of non-perishable food up to Antigonish, up to Membertou Convention Centre and in various comfort centres operated by the Red Cross around HRM," Jennery says.

Additional shipments are already being packed for next week.

"It’s a variety of non-perishable products in there. We have oatmeal and spaghetti, we have tuna, peanut butter, dry soup, canned soup, canned fruit," says Wendy Jordan, the warehouse assistant with Feed Nova Scotia.

There’s also help coming from the province to restock perishable food that was lost from fridges and freezers.

As part of a $40 million aid package, financial assistance of $100 is being made available to anyone who was without power for a minimum of 48 hours.

"For a family of four obviously it’s not going to make much of a difference. It can actually buy you food for a few days basically," says Sylvain Charlebois, food industry expert.

Premier Tim Houston says there more assistance could eventually become available.

"We’ll start there, but again, if the response dictates that we need to make a change to it then I want to assure Nova Scotians that were definitely open to that," Houston says.