We celebrated National Volunteer Week earlier this month,
honoring the many
volunteers who truly make a world of a difference in the health and lives of
preterm and ill infants. One group of volunteers we recognized is our amazing
Junior League of Austin (JLA) team. Over the past 15 years, the
Milk Bank has been fortunate to be a Community Project of JLA and has benefited tremendously from the dedicated
women who select us as their nonprofit of choice to fulfill their volunteer
hours. Next month we will say goodbye to our incredible 2014-2015
team, and we’ve just learned that we will welcome a new team for 2015-2016 –
thank you Junior Leaguers! In addition to providing the woman power necessary
to help us meet our mission, this amazing organization has supported our
Charitable Care Program (CCP) since 1999. The CCP is a philanthropically
supported program that allows the Milk Bank to provide donor milk to every baby
with a medical need – regardless of
insurance coverage or families’ financial resources. The Junior League of
Austin has literally helped us to same thousands of lives over the years!
In
honor of National Volunteer Week and this year’s JLA participants, we want to
spotlight the experiences of a couple of our volunteers as they reflect on
their time spent with the Milk Bank.
Meet Bethany! I joined the Junior League of Austin in the summer of 2013, right
around the same time my daughter,
Zoryana ("Zory") was born. I was eager to stay involved in the
community, and have the opportunity to connect with other working moms also
looking to stay active with their community involvement. As a new mom, I had
hoped to become a milk donor for the Mothers’ Milk Bank of Austin - I had
periodically heard about the organization and the incredible ways in which they
are able to help fragile babies with the milk donated by breastfeeding moms.
Unfortunately, I barely produced enough breast milk for my little one, let alone
enough to donate to the Milk Bank. Fast forward a year when it was time to
choose my community placement with the League. I sorted through a massive list
of organizations supported by the Junior League, and to my surprise, found the
Mothers’ Milk Bank listed with the opportunity to help process milk in the lab.
I knew it was the perfect opportunity for me to give back to the Milk Bank in a
different way than I had originally hoped.
This past year, I've been
able to pick up milk from drop off locations around town and bring it to the
Milk Bank; I've logged frozen mother's breast milk that's been shipped to the
Milk Bank from around the country to prepare it for milk processing; I've
worked on the front lines with the pour team, mixing and pouring milk for
pasteurization. While I wasn't able to donate my breast milk, I was able to contribute my time to help improve the
health and lives of preterm and ill infants. I feel very lucky to have had this
opportunity this past year and to work closely with the incredible staff who
bring their passion for helping fragile babies to work every day.
.jpg)
Meet Doran! At the Mother's Milk Bank of Austin, every
day feels like volunteer appreciation day.
From my first week, the staff made me feel so welcome. As a volunteer, I was able to immediately
start helping with events that promote the milk bank, breastfeeding and the
importance of donating breast milk.
Hearing stories of mothers whose premature babies were the recipients of
donated breast milk catapulted my interest in how the breast milk is
processed. I loved taking an active part in the thawing and pouring of the breast
milk into flasks to later be pasteurized.
I also took on a more behind the scenes role by participating in
statistical analysis of the nutritional content of the milk. I was amazed to learn that the executive
director of the Milk Bank looks at every mother’s milk donation’s nutritional
content to make sure that each NICU baby receives just the right amount of fat
and calories in their milk.
Just like every ounce
of milk donated counts to make a difference in the lives of babies born too
soon, every minute of volunteering makes a difference at the Mothers’ Milk Bank
of Austin. I hope the readers decide to
one day donate their extra milk, donate financially or donate their time to
this wonderful organization.
Comments
Post a Comment