WELCOME PHOEBE!

On August 28 Phoebe, our MoonCatcher Project Coordinator in Uganda, arrived! Linda and I took a field trip to go to JFK Airport to pick her up. She had been travelling for 28 hours and was happy to take a little nap in the car on our way home. She was able to stay for six weeks, and we kept her busy the whole time! While in town, she did a lot of speaking – passionately explaining the vital role our project plays in the lives of Ugandan girls. Our Rotary Club friends from the Niskayuna, Scotia and Glenville clubs invited us to speak. Phoebe also helped facilitate three MoonBees (2 private events and one at Union College).

PERIOD PANTRIES

Addressing period poverty in our own community is becoming a bigger part of our work, and Phoebe jumped right in to help. Together we set up collection sites for donations of menstrual products at UpStitch and Honest Weight Food Cooperative.

UpStitch, located at 26 Essex Street in Albany has partnered with us for several years - donating loads of material for our kits. This wonderful organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit creative reuse organization that collects donated fabric, yarn, and other materials to distribute and sell back to the crafting community at an affordable rate. They endeavor to keep useful material out of landfills, facilitate creativity, and increase environmental awareness throughout the Capital District. Now they will also be collecting menstrual products to help keep our period pantries stocked.

Honest Weight Food Coop in Albany is the site for our newest period pantry and will now collect period products to help keep our pantries in the Capital Region stocked.

We have also been partnering with Grassroots Givers in Albany, a wonderful organization that recently provided us with a carload of menstrual products to stock our period pantries. Grassroot Givers’ mission is to create opportunities for individuals and families who are experiencing poverty in the Albany area by providing access to books, clothing, and home essentials.

Annual Board Retreat

Every year we hold a day-long retreat where our board members have time to work on our strategic plan, problem-solve and engage in longer discussions than are possible at regular board meetings. This year we focused on succession planning. Our younger Board members are stepping up to take on leadership roles and we elected Charlotte Mack and Randi Broadwell as Co-Vice Presidents of MCP.

The entire day was richer and more productive because of Phoebe’s presence as she brought the perspective of her many years of experience working with students, teachers and community leaders in Uganda.

She spoke to us about the importance of teaching boys about puberty not only for their own knowledge but also to sensitize them as to what girls experience with menstruation. We want boys to become strong allies for girls and their education. During her visit, Phoebe spent endless hours rewriting and organizing the boys’ curriculum to make it more accessible and comprehensive. She is adamant that teaching boys to be respectful to girls is what will help them grow into responsible and caring adults.

**THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK PHOEBE!**

MoonWine and Cheese Party 2025

Our annual wine and cheese event was a big success this year. We love holding it at Simone’s Kitchen in Schenectady and we are grateful to Bashir Chedrawee and his lovely staff for their kindness and generosity in sponsoring our event and making it a success. This year we had perfect weather and over 80 people joined us for an evening of tasty treats and celebration. During the month between August 15 and September 15 (the evening of the event), we brough in nearly $10,000!

Work in Africa

Phoebe suggested to me that we set up a meeting for the Country Coordinators of MCP (Uganda, Malawi and Kenya). We arranged to meet online to discuss successes and challenges and exchange information about how to move forward. It was a great meeting with lots of ideas shared. We will continue to conduct these online meetings moving forward.

UGANDA

During her stay in the US, Phoebe learned to knit. She plans to teach her tailors to make a few knitted items that they can sell to increase their income. Our goal for all of our tailors is to help them supplement the income they earn from making our Kits with income that they earn through other projects. We encourage them to use the MCP sewing machines to make school uniforms or other items that they can sell.

Phoebe shared lots of photos of kit deliveries that took place in Uganda in recent months