Committee
Mooncakes and Orange Buttons
September 11, 2023
To: All MoveUP Executive Councillors, and Executive Board Members
MoveUP’s Human Rights and Multicultural Committee is committed to sharing many culturally significant events and observances with our members.
Coming up towards the end of this month are two events that are particularly noteworthy: Mid-Autumn Festival (Sept. 29) and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Sept. 30), the latter also known as Orange Shirt Day.
To help our members learn about these events, we have some giveaways that we would like our executive councillors help to bring back to your workplaces to distribute to members.
We have individually packaged mooncakes made with Lotus seed paste (note: mooncakes are not vegan item) for you to share with members to mark Mid-Autumn Festival.
For Orange Shirt Day, we have ‘Every Child Matters’ buttons featuring a leaf commissioned by MoveUP and designed by Indigenous artist Richard Shorty of the Northern Tutchone First Nations.
Please click HERE to place your order for pick up at the upcoming Executive Council meeting on Monday, September 25. To ensure that as many of our members can have access, please only submit an order for the number of members in your workplace. Your actual number of items received may be adjusted depending on demand.
CUT OFF FOR ORDERING WILL BE SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 17th AT MIDNIGHT.
About Mid-Autum Festival:
For over 3,000 years, cultures including Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese and Korean have celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival which honours the harvest moon. The annual celebration is continued today by many Canadians with those cultural backgrounds. Traditionally, the Chinese version of the Mid-Autumn Festival – also known as the Mooncake Festival – involves carrying brightly-lit lanterns and eating mooncakes, which are small, round pastries with a sweet filling. This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival date falls on September 29.
About the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation / Orange Shirt Day
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR) was first introduced in 2021 and aims to honour the survivors of residential school and remembers those who sadly never returned home. It is a day that allows us to reflect on the genocidal legacy of Canada’s Indian Residential School System and reflect on the steps all of us can take to support truth and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. NDTR is a federal holiday, and beginning this year is a statutory holiday in BC.
Orange Shirt Day originally began in 2013 and its origins centered around the experiences of Phyllis Webstad, a former student at the St. Joseph Mission Residential School in Williams Lake, BC. Six-year-old Phyllis wore a shiny new orange shirt, bought by her grandmother, on her first day of school but had it taken away from her. Orange Shirt Day is an opportunity for all Canadians to examine the harmful effects of residential schools and the legacy they have left behind and is a reminder to all of us that Every Child Matters.
In Solidarity,
Christy Slusarenko & Anderson Charles
Co-chairs, Human Rights & Multicultural Committee
Please note: The Human Rights & Multicultural Committee strives to bring awareness and celebrate different human rights causes and multicultural events including cultural and religious holidays. However, for logistical reasons, we may not always have the capacity to plan activities around all celebrations that are of significance for our members. We appreciate your understanding.
