Finally, it’s Spring and my little purple and white crocuses are in bloom. I love this time of year. Each tiny sprout feels so hopeful and the birds sound louder and seem more abundant than ever. Happy Spring everyone.

 The MoonCatcher Project has been busy!

Ellie’s Birthday Bash 2021:  This past weekend I counted 282 boxes and bags of disposable menstrual supplies and more have come today. I love celebrating my birthday this way. I can’t think of anything I’d like more than to be able to donate all these products to food pantries and shelters. My niece Riley collected 60 boxes from her lacrosse teammates and will donate those to a shelter near her in Maryland.

Tara Kitchen, the yummy Moroccan restaurant in Schenectady, Guilderland and Troy has partnered with us for this year’s birthday bash – and is providing a drop off point for menstrual products.  They are offering a $10 gift certificate to anyone who brings in menstrual supplies. I’ve picked up armloads of boxes and bags and will go back soon for more. I love that so many people and places are joining us to put a dent in period poverty in our community. Thank you to all of you who have already donated menstrual products. If you haven’t yet, there is still time. Click here for details.

Presentations and Virtual MoonBees: We have been working on the best way to hold MoonBees – turns out it is tricky!  Union College hosted us for what was more like a mini MoonBee because the students cut Tyvek and threaded cording for drawstring bags while I spoke with them about MCP.  We held a similar event with Emma Willard students who cut Tyvek while we talked via Zoom.  Our friends at Up-Stitch in Albany hosted a virtual MoonBee too but this time we aimed a camera at my sewing machine, and we all made drawstring bags together. It worked pretty well and two of the women who attended will continue to sew kits for us.  Madison Mackey, a high school student from Holy Names Academy arranged for me to do a virtual presentation to members of her church, the Metropolitan New Testament Mission Baptist Church. We had a great conversation and look forward to working together and holding a “real” MoonBee as soon as it is safe to do so.

Denmark: I have been in contact with a wonderful woman from Denmark who is the co-founder and Managing Director of Real Relief Health, which is an innovative, entrepreneurial company based in Denmark that designs, manufactures and delivers life-saving sustainable and environmentally friendly relief items for the humanitarian sector and people in developing countries.  She has sent me some fabric developed by her company that is antimicrobial and could be a possible substitute for the fabric we use for our pad. It’s such fun to hear the ideas of other people working to find solutions to end period poverty.

Africa: In Kenya, schools are open and Jacky has been busy! In the last few weeks she has delivered over 600 kits along with face masks to girls in school in the region of Kisumu. In Malawi COVID has been on the rise, and school have been closed again. Nevertheless, our partners there have been able to distribute some kits have along with face masks - which are not affordable for many but are required in any public setting. Schools have reopened in Uganda but have not allowed MCP to come into classes. Phoebe tells us that beginning next week she and the other teachers she has trained will be able to start delivering kits and teaching again. Meanwhile, Phoebe has been busy with the construction of a new sewing center. We have received two generous grants (Thank you Susan Bokan and the Nordlys Foundation) to complete the building in memory of our dear friend Maureen Fernandez. Construction is moving along!

In Nigeria, our partner Alice Marcus went to her home village last month and her sewing group was able to make 600 MoonCatcher kits that were then distributed to girls in villages nearby.

India: Our partners in New Delhi (the Shashi Kiran Charitable Trust) reported that they were recently asked by the Commissioner of the Noida Police Department to provide MoonCatcher Kits and menstrual hygiene instruction to over 200 women and girls. Our friend Ruchika is in New Delhi now, working on funding and kit distribution. She reports that the sewing center produced 7000 kits and 5000 face masks in 2020.

Online Auction: A small committee of volunteers has been meeting to work out the details of our first ever Spring online auction coming in May. We are so excited that over 30 baskets have been donated to help us raise money for MCP. Many thanks to all of those volunteers as well as to Monica Tan, who designed the coolest flyer for us. It isn’t too late to sign up to put a gift basket together.  Just go to this link.

In 2019 we received a grant from the Zonta Clubs of Schenectady and Montgomery Fulton to provide start up costs for a new project in Haiti. We partnered with the Bay Road Church in Lake George, New York to bring MCP to the village of Leon, near the town of Jeremie, Haiti. In 2020 we had to cancel this trip due to political unrest in Haiti and then of course the pandemic hit. We have put our grant money from Zonta into a savings account and now we are actually starting to plan for the trip and our new sewing cooperative startup in January of 2022.

Cheers to you all! Enjoy the warm spring weather. Let’s hope it lasts!