A small initiative that formed in North Battleford has since snowballed into a fighting cause to unite generations and share a simple message: We are better when we are together.

The Better Together T-shirt Project and a few of their organizers we're at St. Augustine School on Tuesday, January 14th for an assembly with the grade 4 and 5 classes.

Better Together was started in late 2018 after the community of North Battleford suffered eight suicides in seven weeks. 5 of the individuals were under the age of 22, and 3 were over the age of 55. The initiative was put forth to supply Better Together t-shirts to citizens of different generations. The hopes were that they would find someone with a matching t-shirt, and in turn, start a conversation, thus bridging the gap and making small differences in someone's life.

Deb McNabb, one of the organizers of Better Together and a pastor in North Battleford, had a meeting with Co-Founder and High School Student, Allysa Woodrow. The pair realized they needed to bridge the gap between generations and bring people together. 

"In our meeting, Allysa said, 'It's those that are in the front curve of life, under the age of 22, that are dying. Those that need to know that their dreams can come to pass and that need to have wisdom from other generations. Those that need the cheerleading and encouragement.'" said McNabb. "Then there are those on the back curve of life. They have met a lot of their goals. Their families are grown and they're facing loneliness, depression, and just by themselves often. What if we can connect those two generations."

Through the meeting, the T-shirt Project was created. Individuals would wear their Better Together T-shirts on Tuesday's and connect with someone else wearing the shirt. The designs featured iconic duos with the Better Together meaning, such as peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, salt and pepper, or cookies and milk.

"We created a day called Together Tuesdays. We dressed 300 people in our community, 150 who were under 22, and 150 over the age of 55 and we connected those generations together."

Better together just celebrating their one-year-anniversary on January 8th, 2020. Throughout the year, the growth of the movement has gone from 300 people wearing shirts to 6000 people in North Battleford alone. The project has now started to branch out into other communities across Saskatchewan with the same hopes of bringing peopole together.

Their stop in Humboldt involved talking to the grade four and five students, along with supplying them with Better Together T-shirts.

"The kids were pumped today. They know that we are better together. My heart for Humbodlt is to see the businesses, the farmers, and the organizations rise up, get your kids dressed, and then look around your community to find out ways to connect intergenerationally."

For anyone wanting to sponsor a classroom of children with t-shirts to wear, or to get involved with the Better Together Movement themselves, you can contact All-Out Graphics in North Battelford at 1-306-445-1445.

The movement continues to spread its reach, dress individuals across the province while raising awareness for suicide prevention and proving that we are indeed Better Together.