Alison Beshur, milk donor to the Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin and mom to two boys, spent the 26 days leading up to her youngest son's first birthday in a "pumping marathon" for the milk bank. Read more about her amazing story below, in her own words.
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I have amazing friends.
Dozens of them rushed to help, when I reached out for donations to support a 26-day pumping marathon I recently completed for the Mothers’ Milk Bank at Austin.
During the pumping marathon, I pumped 532 ounces for the fragile babies. To match, more than 30 family members and friends gave more than $1,600 for the milk bank, and a few more donations are expected. The monetary donations will support the organization’s Charitable Care program, which funds donor milk for premature babies whose families don’t have insurance or can’t afford to pay for the life-saving milk.
I’m still surprised by the generosity of my family members and friends. Knowing I had the support of so many people kept me motivated to pump as much as possible during the 26-day effort.
The idea started when a few of my friends asked me for donations to support runs or bike rides. I thought, ‘I would love to do something like that. With my out-of-shape body, I wouldn’t make it to the finish line...but I can pump.’ The pumping marathon was conceived.
I had plenty of milk stored in the freezer for my son, so for the 26 days leading up to my son’s first birthday, I pumped as much as possible for the milk bank. Nearly each day, I posted my progress on Facebook and Twitter and asked for monetary donations. Some donors sent checks or gave me cash and others went online.
Most surprising to me were donations from former co-workers I haven’t seen in more than five years and college and high school friends I haven’t seen in nearly two decades. One of my friends went a step further and convinced his employer to match his donation.
Sometimes, when I make a donation or volunteer to help an organization, I feel good about my efforts, but I don’t really know the impact.
A few weeks after I completed the pumping marathon, I had a brief conversation with a teacher at my son’s
school. The discussion started with my amazement with the towering height of her son, who was about 10.
Even more shocking, the teacher explained, is how her 6-year-old daughter has grown to reach up to her son’s shoulders. As the teacher showed me a photo on her phone, she told me she still finds it hard to believe her daughter was born at 26 weeks and weighed less than two pounds.
I asked if she breastfed and she said she had difficulty with latching and her body didn’t respond to the pump. But, she said, her daughter was given donor milk while in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the hospital, and that helped her develop.
Hearing this nearly brought me to tears. I now had a face of someone I personally know to put with the milk donation, and a true understanding of the importance of the work the milk bank does.
There is so much involved in getting donor milk to the babies who need it. There’s the pasteurizing, the deliveries, the screening, the administrative stuff, etc. Knowing I was briefly a part of that life-saving effort is a memory I will cherish and take pride in for the rest of my life.
___________________________________________
I have amazing friends.
Dozens of them rushed to help, when I reached out for donations to support a 26-day pumping marathon I recently completed for the Mothers’ Milk Bank at Austin.
I’m still surprised by the generosity of my family members and friends. Knowing I had the support of so many people kept me motivated to pump as much as possible during the 26-day effort.
The idea started when a few of my friends asked me for donations to support runs or bike rides. I thought, ‘I would love to do something like that. With my out-of-shape body, I wouldn’t make it to the finish line...but I can pump.’ The pumping marathon was conceived.
I had plenty of milk stored in the freezer for my son, so for the 26 days leading up to my son’s first birthday, I pumped as much as possible for the milk bank. Nearly each day, I posted my progress on Facebook and Twitter and asked for monetary donations. Some donors sent checks or gave me cash and others went online.
Most surprising to me were donations from former co-workers I haven’t seen in more than five years and college and high school friends I haven’t seen in nearly two decades. One of my friends went a step further and convinced his employer to match his donation.
Sometimes, when I make a donation or volunteer to help an organization, I feel good about my efforts, but I don’t really know the impact.
A few weeks after I completed the pumping marathon, I had a brief conversation with a teacher at my son’s
Even more shocking, the teacher explained, is how her 6-year-old daughter has grown to reach up to her son’s shoulders. As the teacher showed me a photo on her phone, she told me she still finds it hard to believe her daughter was born at 26 weeks and weighed less than two pounds.
I asked if she breastfed and she said she had difficulty with latching and her body didn’t respond to the pump. But, she said, her daughter was given donor milk while in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the hospital, and that helped her develop.
Hearing this nearly brought me to tears. I now had a face of someone I personally know to put with the milk donation, and a true understanding of the importance of the work the milk bank does.
There is so much involved in getting donor milk to the babies who need it. There’s the pasteurizing, the deliveries, the screening, the administrative stuff, etc. Knowing I was briefly a part of that life-saving effort is a memory I will cherish and take pride in for the rest of my life.
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