Bozho jayek!
Hello everyone!

September 2025

I am over the moon at our incredible news: The Kwek Society has passed the milestone of 5 million period supplies distributed! This achievement reflects the generosity of many, and our collective commitment to ending period poverty. Each moon time and Auntie bag, and each tampon, pad, liner, and pair of cotton underwear delivered, has helped keep students in class and allowed adult recipients able to show up to work, reduced stigma, and affirmed Indigenous traditions respecting the cycle of life.

Igwien, heartfelt thanks. to all donors, volunteers, and financial partners who have made this possible. Because of you, much of Indian Country is experiencing moon times with dignity and confidence.

While this is a moment to celebrate, our work continues. The need is great. With your continued support we can reach more schools and programs, expand our educational resources, and ensure that everyone we support has what they need to thrive.

Join us as we strive toward the milestone of 10 million supplies donated by 2028 – our 10 year anniversary!

Migwetch nikanek (Thank you friends),

Eva Marie Carney
Founder + Executive Director

Shop with Purpose, Support The Kwek Society

Take action on Period Action Day on October 11 — and get a head start on celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day (October 13) — by shopping to benefit The Kwek Society. Buy books and more, either in person or online, on Saturday, October 11, from independent, woman-owned bookstore One More Page Books in Arlington, Virginia. The bookstore is open from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM; orders benefitting The Kwek Society can be placed online anytime on October 11. One More Page Books will donate 15% of your purchase amount to support our efforts to end period poverty.

Shop online or in store

PERIOD Resources

The Period Education section of our website now features some well thought out educational content from PERIOD. This content provides students, families, and trusted adults practical and empowering information to share with students about menstrual health.

As we restock schools for the 2025-2026 academic year, we are highlighting this content to the schools we support, particularly PERIOD’s 5-part youth-friendly workshop. Through this workshop, students will learn about: periods and period stigma, period product options and how to use them, period pain and how to manage symptoms, and more.

You will find the curriculum link and PERIOD.’s helpful Facilitator Guide here, along with resources for student athletes and their coaches and for school nurses.

We ask that you explore the resources on our website, and share with the youth in your lives, and the educators in your community, the information posted. With your help, we will be closer to our goal of a world where all youth are supported in living, learning, and leading without barriers.

School District of Crandon

Crandon, Wisconsin

We just added the School District of Crandon’s three schools to our partnership roster. We were introduced to the district by the Executive Council of the Forest County Potawatomi Community, in connection with our receipt of a generous donation in support of our work nationwide. (The Council noted that many Potawatomi students attended Crandon schools.) We were thrilled to pursue the introduction and, just last week, we delivered our initial shipment of period care items to Crandon students, including packages of organic pads and puberty education books. Later this month, our friends at ANA will send 400 moon time bags that ANA volunteers have sewn and filled with period care items for students. In follow-up, our Crandon contact, Jasee Novak (pictured here), told us: “This partnership is going to make things so much easier for students. I truly appreciate all that you do!”

We look forward to continuing our work with the School District of Crandon, and we invite you to introduce The Kwek Society to other schools and school districts that serve a significant number of U.S. Indigenous students.

Alliance for Period Supplies + Kimberly-Clark’s
U by Kotex® Brand

We continue to benefit from our partnership with our friends at the Alliance for Period Supplies and Kimberly-Clark’s U by Kotex® brand. Since APS was founded in 2018, it has worked with Kimberly-Clark, among other corporations, to expand access to menstrual products for all who need them.

We were proud to become an allied member of APS in early 2020. Through the pandemic and beyond, The Kwek Society has received sizable annual donations of period care items for distribution to those we support. In August of this year we accepted an offer from APS and Kimberly-Clark to receive a large donation of the high-quality U by Kotex®  pads that many of the students we support just love. We directed the donation of 164,200 pads to an Oklahoma school district. It was that donation that got us to the five-million-period-supplies-donated milestone.

Here’s what the APS asked us to share with you:

“At the Alliance for Period Supplies, we’re proud to support the work of our incredible member The Kwek Society, whose impact reaches thousands of students across Turtle Island, and continues to expand in communities in more U.S. states. With the support of our founding sponsor U by Kotex®, we’re committed to making sure no student misses out on school, sports, or other opportunities because they don’t have access to the period products they need. We are honored to be able to support The Kwek Society in making this possible in the communities they serve.”

Winona Elliot
Board Member

Board Member Winona Elliott is Potawatomi and Ojibway from Neyaashiinigmiing First Nation located on the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada. She belongs to the Moose Clan from her father’s side, and also acknowledges her mother’s clan, the Fish Clan.

She joined our board in late 2020 and, before her move to Wisconsin, was our point of contact with a number of First Nation communities in Ontario to which we delivered period care. Winona is the Resource and Disability Services Manager at the College of the Menominee Nation in Wisconsin, supporting the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being of CMN’s students. She has worked in social services for more than two decades. Winona has two daughters.

In addition to her board service, Winona serves as The Kwek Society’s trusted adult contact within CMN. She reported to us that 83 tribes are represented among CMN’s student body and that a number of this community college’s students experience period poverty. With Winona’s distribution help, starting in October 2024, we are assisting at-risk students with period care.

“I believe strongly in the power of community and collective responsibility,” Winona said. “Women are our most sacred beings, and menstruation is a sacred and powerful time. It is my mission to ensure that all women and girls have access to the products they need during this special time, so they may be honored and supported as they deserve.”

We celebrate Winona’s efforts and share her excitement as she carries out our mission of ending period poverty.

Are you able to support us with funds? You will find donation links on our How to Help page for one-time and monthly giving, including by GooglePay and Venmo. We are grateful for each and every donation!

Looking for a no-cost-to-you way to help?  Give us a review on Great Nonprofits and/or follow us and share our posts on Bluesky, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Your support will build our community.

Be assured that The Kwek Society, incorporated in Virginia, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN # 82-4369803). Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Our financial statement is available on written request from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs, PO Box 1163, Richmond, Virginia 23218. Our Candid/Guidestar report can be found here.

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