To all mothers and their families!

Happy Mother's Day!

The greatest thing she'd learned over the years is that there's no way to be a perfect mother, but a million ways to be a good one.
- Unknown

Living these words is what made our healing journeys that much lighter and brighter. And, now, our team has moved into another milestone of our journeys! Three very important announcements:

1. The official announcement of the "Maternal Mental Health" working group was this past Monday, May 3rd, in Saskatoon! We are the only non-medical representatives on the 30+ person committee that has representatives from literally every corner of Saskatchewan. A heartfelt thank-you to Dr. Angela Bowen and her Assistant, Lindsey Bruce, and all the other esteemed members for the incredible work that is being organized and facilitated! Please check out the website for valuable resources and information ~ www.skmaternalmentalhealth.ca . Please share it with all the pregnant and new mothers you know, as well as their supports! Then there's your Family Doctor or OB.

2. We are giving back to our communities - we have cut or will be cutting $250 cheques to the:

• NICU/Mother and Baby Unit in late March;
• Canadian Mental Health Association last week during Mental Health Awareness Week;
• Moose Jaw Transition House on May 13th, and then to the
• YMCA Urban Challenge coming up June 19th.
  

We will have paid out $1,000! These donations would not be possible without the tremendous support we receive from our ambassadors both through purchases and sharing our message with your friends, families and co-workers.

3. Our team won the category of "Circle of Friends" at the YWCA Women of Distinction Gala on Thursday, May 6th!! The "Circle of Friends" is about honouring a group of two or more women whose collaboration has resulted in outstanding achievements and valuable contributions to their community or communities. We were thrilled to bits that we won! The acceptance speech began, "This is a victory for all Saskatchewan mothers!" We would also like to extend a heartfelt "Congratulations" to all the 2010 nominees and the work they are doing to improve the lives of our communities!

We look forward to what is on the horizon for mothers and their families! We believe change is occurring when it comes to maternal mental health and Postpartum Depression - this is a big topic for the G8 countries (more than 500,000 women globally succumb every year), CNN is soliciting stories, and the other provinces in Canada are watching Saskatchewan make policy changes. These truly are very exciting times!

With immense gratitude,
The Smiling Mask Team


Left to right ~ Carla, Tania and Elita