With heavy hearts, this month we must say good-bye to Charlotte Mack as our assistant director. Charlotte has accepted a full time position at C.R.E.A.T.E. Community Studios, where she has been working part time while serving as our part-time assistant director. This is a great opportunity for Charlotte and we agree that it is the right thing for her, but of course, we will miss her daily presence. But Charlotte isn’t totally going away. She will return to serve on the MCP Board and will continue to coordinate our new period pantries project. Read her letter to all of us (below).

Dear MoonCatcher Community:

Over the past decade I have been involved with the operations of The MoonCatcher Project in some capacity: volunteering, serving on the board, going to Africa with Ellie, and most recently, working as the Assistant Director. This part time role has been truly wonderful, and paired well alongside with my role at C.R.E.A.T.E. Community Studios. I have made a recent shift in my professional life and  joined C.R.E.A.T.E. Community Studios full time. While I'm very excited about this opportunity with C.R.E.A.T.E., this decision was incredibly heartbreaking, ending my role as Assistant Director with The MoonCatcher Project. I'm beyond grateful to Ellie, Linda, and the Board for being nothing but supportive during this difficult decision and am delighted to take a spot back on the board of directors. I will continue to support Ellie as much as I can as a board member, accompany her to Africa in March of 2025, and continue addressing period poverty here in the Capital Region via our Period Pantries. While my "title" is no longer the same, my passion for The MoonCatcher Project remains and I will continue to do everything I can to help keep girls in school. 

 Thank you for reading, for your support and for understanding, 

Sincerely, 

Charlotte Mack 

good luck to you charlotte!

DECEMBER FUNDRAISING UPDATE:

2024 ended on a positive note for MCP. Our year-end fundraiser brought in over $57,000 (our goal was $50,000). This funding will help us begin 2025 with funds to ramp up production in our African cooperatives.

Dining for Dollars was also a big success. We prepared approximately 800 lasagna dinners, delivered to 170 homes with lots of folks picking their dinners up at the UUSS, which graciously hosted us again this year. Our total intake so far is over $23,000 with money still coming in. Photos below!

PERIOD PANTRY UPDATE:

Schenectady High School will be the next location to benefit from our Period Pantries Project. During the week of January 13, students will participate in painting five 2-drawer metal filing cabinets that will be filled with menstrual products and placed strategically throughout the school.

 We continue to fill Period Pantries in Albany and Schenectady. We receive calls regulary from other organizations who want us to bring a pantry to their location. We would love to expand but need more volunteers and funds to do so.

Want to help expand this project? Or just get involved? Please contact Ellie at: mooncatcherproject@gmail.com.

Many thanks to Roz for taking on Ginger’s pantry while she recovers from back issues

Also thanks to Claire Jennings, one of the original founders of the Period Pantry Project, for spreading the word about our work at a Bridgid Alliance event in Watertown, NY.

AFRICA UPDATE:

Schools have been closed over the holidays and are just starting up again. During the last six weeks the sewing guilds have been making kits but not delivering them. They will start scheduling school visits this week.

With the support of the Scotia Rotary Clubs, MCP has partnered with the Rotary Club of Namugango, Uganda and received a grant from Rotary International to produce and deliver MoonCatcher Kits. So far over 1,200 kits have been distributed thanks to this grant. The Namugango Club reached out to us recently and they are ready to start the next round of school visits. Phoebe is working with her tailors to produce those kits and will be ready to deliver them soon.

MOONBEES:

We held MoonBees recently with the Scotia Rotary Club on November 7, at the Emma Willard School on November 10, at the Crandall Publc Library in Glen Falls on November 23 and in Great Diamond Island, Maine (Ellie Zoomed in) on January 2. The kits that were made by our wonderful volunteers will be put to good use. One hundred will go to: Hispanola Health Partners in Haiti with Louise Lindenmeyer. Another 85 will go to an orphanage in Kitale, Kenya (an area our current cooperatives cannot reach) with Elise Perrault. And another 50 will go to a very challenged part of Uganda that is outside of our reach - the Taasa Heath Clinic