YXE Men’s Night provided necessities, self-care to Saskatoon men
- EFN Staff | April 12, 2019
An event was recently created to address the unmet needs for men in Saskatoon’s core neighbourhoods. On April 10, 2019, the White Buffalo Youth Lodge was the host of the first ever YXE Men’s Night which provided self-care services, much needed items and food for men.
For the past few months, donations of thousands of items of clothing, money, time, and other materials were collected in preparation to hold the first YXE Men’s Night.
“The Men’s Night was created by a grassroots group of Saskatoon citizens who wanted to address a spoken need within the core communities of the city,” said organizer and social worker, Brittany Houk in a media release. “Through our professional and volunteer engagements, we’ve recognized a need within our community for men and their basic needs for clothing, food, and personal hygiene products, for example. So, we put a call out for donations and received an overwhelming response from the Saskatoon community.”
Other organizers for YXE Men’s Night included Craig McCallum, Dominique Rislund, Kim Robson, Elizabeth Plishka, Michael Linklater, and Jaris Swidrovich.
“Our team of organizers include individuals who live, work, and play in Saskatoon’s core neighbourhoods,” Swidrovich said. “We are familiar with the many community-based organizations that already serve unmet needs of the same population that the YXE Men’s Night was designed for and we wanted to provide even more.”
Patrons who attended the Men’s Night had free access to clothing, food, haircuts and styling, hygiene products, new socks and underwear, and other accessories. Métis Elder Norman Fleury was also in attendance at the event.
YXE Men’s Night event was made possible through the generous efforts, time, and/or financial contributions of community partners, including Al Anderson’s Source for Sports, SIGA, Robertson Stromberg, RYDE YXE Cycle Studio, ROAD Coffee, Tommy Gun’s, MC College, Saskatchewan Dental Hygienists Association, Sobeys, Prairie Meats, the White Buffalo Youth Lodge, and community volunteers.
The YXE Men’s Night was free and open to the public.