Pictured above: Gertrude Monias (left), Head of St. Theresa Point Day Care, receiving AMC children’s masks from Murray Thomas, St. Theresa Point Northern Manager

Thanks to the collaborative efforts of three Winnipeg-based organizations, hundreds of reuseable cloth masks have been distributed to two dozen First Nation communities in Manitoba, each one finding its ways into the hands – and onto the faces – of Indigenous youth throughout the province.

St. Theresa Point was one of the 24 communities supported by the joint initiative started by the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba (CHFM) and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC). The North West Company Inc. (North West) is proud to have supported these efforts by organizing the logistics and distribution of these masks to its Northern stores, where store managers were entrusted with handing them over to the assigned organizations in each community.

Various versions of the three-ply masks containing reusable filters feature the colors of a First Nation medicine wheel, as well prints of the Jordan Principle Spirit Bear and the CHFM icon, Dr. Goodbear. The designs were intended to encourage the communities of the 63 different beneficiary First Nations Early Learning and Child Care programs in Manitoba to protect themselves during the spread of COVID-19.

“We are very happy to support the delivery of these masks for the children in the community,” said Murray Thomas, Northern Store Manager. “It is very important to make sure that everyone in the community is protected, especially the children as many of them are not yet eligible for vaccination.”