Bozho jayek!
Hello everyone!

September 2026

School is back in session, and pads, tampons, menstrual cups and more are flying out of our warehouse space (and our Amazon cart) to restock the hundreds of school and community-based organization partners we support with moon time care. Moon time and Auntie bags — sewn and filled by supporters — are arriving at the warehouse at a record clip and being shipped out to partners in record turn-around time.  Thank you, sewists! Remarkably, we’ve distributed over 57,000 moon time and Auntie bags since we first shared the pattern for the moon time bags in 2018.

Our partners are now coast to coast! With the addition of Massachusetts in May, when we signed an agreement to provide products to youth supported by The North American Indian Center of Boston, we are operating in 26 U.S. states. We love that we are able to add more partners. We also love that our national reach demonstrates to all that we, Native people, are still here – even east of the Mississippi River!

So far this year we are seeing a noticeable decline in in-kind donations of period products. As a result, we have needed to buy most of the supplies we distribute, and product prices continue to rise, as do shipping costs. We are working hard to obtain foundation and Native Nation grants and individual donations to finance our efforts, and we need your help to meet the needs of menstruators across the country and continue to add new partner schools and organizations. Please consider making a monthly donation to help us meet these monthly needs, share our mission with folks in your network who might also donate, and take other action as you are able. All the various ways to support us are on the support page of our website.

A last “fun fact” to share: We just learned we are featured in the research report and toolkit published by the Geena Davis Institute — in partnership with Procter & Gamble — focused on how TV shapes teens’ understanding of menstruation. Yes, that Geena Davis, star of Thelma and Louise. We are listed as a resource for TV writers and creators. You can find the report here.

Igwien (heartfelt thanks) for all you do to make our period-poverty and period-shame-busting efforts possible! And thanks to Board Vice Chair Paige Willett for her ongoing work on our newsletters.

All my best,

Eva Marie Carney
Founder + Executive Director

Get ready to shop to benefit The Kwek Society Saturday, October 10th! A portion of the proceeds from all in-store and online orders on October 10th will help us address period poverty among US Indigenous students, their peers and their communities. The bookstore address is 2200 N. Westmoreland Street, Arlington, VA 22213. 

If you plan to shop in-store, please note that the fundraiser falls on the same date as Period Action Day. If you are able, please bring to the store (but only on October 10th!), a package of pads, tampons or liners to share with the students we support.

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT TO KEEP UP OUR MOMENTUM!

Migwetch to our dear friends at One More Page Books for hosting this event!

And if you can’t shop, we hope you will take the time to donate funds and find other ways to help.

New Sports Bra Curriculum from Bras for Girls

The Kwek Society is proud to highlight a new, free resource from its longtime partner, Bras for Girls. The organization’s Sports Bra Curriculum gives educators age-appropriate tools to help young people understand breast development, body changes and sports bra fit. Developed with Bellevue College and aligned with SHAPE (Society of Health and Physical Educators) standards, the curriculum is available for elementary, middle and high school students, with both 20- and 40-minute lesson options. It includes presentation slides, facilitator guides, student worksheets and a ready-to-use 20-minute video, making it easy for school staff and youth-serving adults to bring these conversations into their programs.

Our collaboration with Bras for Girls is longstanding and fruitful — since we partnered wtih them, they have shared with us more than 12,000 sports bras for students attending our partner schools. These bras allow students to to participate confidently in sports and physical activity. The new curriculum adds an important educational piece to Bras for Girls’ donation efforts.

The Kwek Society encourages educators, coaches and other youth-serving adults to explore the curriculum and to adapt it as appropriate for their students. The accompanying video offers a helpful introduction to the new resource and the work behind it. We anticipate that that these resources will help make conversations about body changes and sports participation more comfortable, supportive and empowering for young people.

Shulter Public Schools 

Shulter, Oklahoma

We have dozens of school and organization partners in Oklahoma, the home state of a number of The Kwek Society’s board members. One of these partners, Schulter Public Schools, is located on the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation in northeast Oklahoma. We started the partnership in late 2024 by providing the three schools that make up the district gifts of cotton underwear, period pads, and tampons, along with books on puberty education that were selected by Schulter staff. We also coordinated a shipment of sports bras from our nonprofit collaborator, Bras for Girls.

This Fall we are supporting about 90 Schulter students. Working with Counselor Christina Nevills, we just provided students with our donor-sewn moon time bags, filled with a few pads and liners. The district advised it otherwise was well-stocked, due to our prior donations.

Shulter High School students with our gifts of moon time bags filled with supplies.

Having the moon time bags and other period products on hand ensures students have what they need to address their moon times, when they need them.

“The Kwek Society’s support of our students with period products has been amazing!” Christina told us. “Over the summer, we were able to send products home with students, and during the school year they are free to take products home over the weekend. The Kwek Society’s donations ensure student access throughout the year.” 

Visit our website to catch up on all the schools and organizations we are supporting with your help.

ANA

The Kwek Society is grateful to spotlight ANA, a longtime partner whose volunteers have helped get thousands of handmade moon time and Auntie bags into the hands of Native students and their peers. Founded by Executive Director Mary Lee Reiff, ANA is dedicated to improving the quality of life for persons from the Hopi, Navajo and Zuni Nations by providing essential goods and programs that foster self-reliance and mutual understanding. Much of ANA’s work supports students, making its partnership with The Kwek Society a natural fit.

Some of the many donations delivered to us by ANA

Our work together began in 2019, when Mary Lee learned about our work and reached out to explore ways we might partner. Because of its existing relationships in New Mexico and Arizona, ANA was able to connect us with administrators of schools in those states that now are established Kwek Society partners. ANA’s volunteers also took on the joyful work of sewing reusable moon time bags from the pattern we provided. The number of ANA volunteers sewing moon time and Auntie bags for us continues to grow, reflecting an impressive community effort. To date, ANA volunteers have sewn and filled with period care items almost 8,000 moon time and Auntie bags. We are grateful for their sustained efforts to facilitate student access to period supplies.

National Charity League sewists posing with moon time bags sewn for The Kwek Society

Regarding ANA’s moon time bag sewing initiative, Mary Lee reports that “One of our most enjoyable experiences has been partnering with National Charity League, an organization of moms and daughters that partners with non-profits. What a perfect project for them to not only stuff the moon time bags, but to learn to sew in the process … it is a win-win for sure!”

Mary Lee visited our warehouse in July 2026 to deliver a carful of period care donations. Her kindness and enthuasiasm during that visit was a meaningful reminder of the enduring value of our collaboration. 

ANA’s Executive Director Mary Lee Reiff posing with our Board President, Barbara Hannigan.

Sadie Jo Smokey-Crews
Board Member

“I can make sure my daughters can support other young women who aren’t as fortunate to live in a city, with two working parents. I can help other mothers/aunties/grandmothers who struggle to feed their families, for whom period supplies for their teens are a luxury.”

The Kwek Society is excited to welcome Sadie Jo Smokey-Crews as a new member of its Board of Directors. An enrolled member of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California and a descendant of the Kiowa Tribe, Sadie Jo brings a strong commitment to Native communities, youth and creating opportunities for others. She was engaged in our work before joining the board, spending weekends, alongside her daughters, sewing our moon time bags that hold period supplies.

For Sadie Jo, the work is personal. She has shared that The Kwek Society’s mission resonates with her because she remembers struggling with period poverty as a young woman. Now, her family’s moon time bag sewing tradition gives her daughters a chance to support other young people while helping families who may have to choose among basic needs. As she put it, “I can make sure my daughters can support other young women who aren’t as fortunate to live in a city, with two working parents. I can help other mothers/aunties/grandmothers who struggle to feed their families, for whom period supplies for their teens are a luxury.”

Sadie Jo brings extensive professional and community experience to the board. She is a Senior Associate with an international Architecture, Engineering and Construction firm and the founding editor of Wašiw News, a digital newsletter for tribal members and descendants. She also serves on the boards of the Waší·šiw Land Trust, is a commissioner for the Washoe Housing Authority and serves on the Glendale Union High School Johnson O’Malley Parent Committee. Her experience, perspective and personal connection to our mission excite all of us at The Kwek Society. 

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