By Amanda Moses
Sisters with Purpose (SWP) have now added baby formula to their weekly food distribution thanks to a donation.
On Saturdays, the local nonprofit hosts their food pantry in the lower level of the Brooklyn Sports Club (BSC) for the past eight years. On May 21st, their distribution included bottles and cans of Enfamil baby formula—a necessity many parents have been struggling to obtain due to the nationwide baby formula shortage.
On February 17th, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning after certain powdered infant formula products in a facility were exposed to a bacteria outbreak from Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis in Michigan. Many of these products, which are used to make Similac formula, were recalled. Coupled with the March 2020 COVID-19 pandemic induced shortages (quarantine procedures and economic downturn caused jobs to be lost and businesses to close) supplies are now extremely limited. According to Datasembly, a data-based retail tracker, the United States out-of-stock rate for infant and specialty formula reached 43% during the first week of May.
Last month, Healthcare Executive, Jason Newman donated and delivered in the back of his car 20 boxes of baby formula in May to SWP.
For grandmothers like Diana Alverez, this inclusion in SWP’s weekly food pantry sets her mind at ease as her daughter prepares to give birth in a few months.
“My daughter is pregnant and I’m worried that she will not make enough breast milk and with the baby formula shortage it’s worrisome,” Alverez said.
Alverez said she heavily relies on SWP since her salary is not enough to care for her family, pay rent, bills, and then groceries.
“This helps me a lot and it also helps my family because I share what I have with them,” Alverez said.
On May 16th, the FDA announced that Abbott Laboratories will be able to reopen their baby formula plant in about two weeks; however, consumers won’t see more products on the shelves from production and distributions until about six to eight weeks.
Photos by Amanda Moses
