FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SASKATOON – Moon Time Connections (formerly Moon Time Sisters) and United Way Saskatoon and Area, two long-time distributors of free period products in Saskatchewan, are grateful for the generous donation by Shoppers Foundation for Women’s Health to the Province of Saskatchewan, but will continue raising donations and distributing free period products.
On October 23rd, 2023, the Foundation and the Saskatchewan provincial government announced a partnership to distribute 12 million menstruation products to schools, emergency shelters for women and girls, and food banks across the province over the next three years.
“We welcome the generous gift from Shoppers Foundation for Women’s Health and applaud the provincial government for recognizing the importance of access to menstrual products and our collective responsibility to provide these products to those in need,” said Nicole White, founder of Moon Time Connections. “We look forward to working alongside this new partnership.”
While 12 million is a significant increase in the supply of free products in Saskatchewan, the reality is much more will be needed. Thanks to this generous gift, Moon Time Connections and United Way intend to focus their efforts and provide more robust support to people not reached by the Foundation’s partnership with the Saskatchewan government.
“Despite the incredible generosity of this gift from the Foundation, demand for these products will far outrun the supply,” said Andrea Howe, director of labour partnerships at United Way, a Tampon Tuesday partner. “Saskatoon Food Bank alone serves 24,000 clients per month. If even half of those need period products every month, most of the annual donation from the Foundation will have been consumed. And that’s just one location in the province.”
To complement the new partnership and address this ongoing need, Moon Time Connections and United Way will continue their annual campaigns – including United Way’s Tampon Tuesday, a partnership with local Shopper’s Drug Marts and Labour groups. The two organizations hope to find ways to work alongside the province to avoid redundancies and strategically distribute these products in a responsible, dignified and efficient manner.
“It’s important that we, as a community and province, don’t stop gathering and distributing donations because of this announcement,” said White. “People in every part of the province need these products and we’re here to continue our work and complement the efforts of the partnership. It’s important to us that we ensure no one is left without.”
MEDIA CONTACTS
Kat Cooper, Moon Time Connections
mtsmedia@truenorthaid.ca
Dan Matthews, United Way Saskatoon and Area
dmatthews@unitedwaysaskatoon.ca
ABOUT MOON TIME CONNECTIONS (FORMERLY MOON TIME SISTERS)
Moon Time Connections (MTC) is a volunteer-led organization supporting Northern menstruators by collecting and shipping menstrual products to remote communities across the country where access is limited and costs are prohibitive. MTC provides menstrual products to these communities completely free-of-cost.
Since its humble beginnings in 2017, MTC has grown to include 4 chapters – in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia – has partnered with over 65 northern Indigenous Communities across the country, and has shipped over 2 million period products to high schools, elementary schools, midwifery organisations, health care centres, Friendship Centres, shelters, food banks and community programs in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nunavut, Newfoundland and Labrador, and North West Territories.
MTC is the only Indigenous-led period equity group in Canada. Learn more.
ABOUT UNITED WAY SASKATOON AND AREA
For 65 years, United Way Saskatoon and Area has fostered partnerships with the goal of bringing people and resources together to build a vibrant and caring community. Through collaboration, United Way moves people from poverty to possibility, helps build strong communities and supports kids to be all that they can be. Each year, United Way mobilizes millions of dollars in community investment, hundreds of community-minded volunteers and organizes dozens of community building projects to make life in our communities better and safer for everyone.
ABOUT TAMPON TUESDAY
Tampon Tuesday (TT) is a registered trademark of Bell Media. The initiative is a unique way of bringing the local community together to support people with periods. Since 2017, United Way Centraide Canada and the Canadian Labour Congress have partnered with Bell to use this trademark for period product collection and distribution initiatives across Canada. TT profiles the basic need for all individuals to have access to necessary period products and the challenges faced by many to obtain or purchase them. Through this initiative, the local community has distributed nearly 23,000 packages of period products to agencies, organizations, and schools in Saskatoon and surrounding area. Donate today.
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