Wichita teen seeking infant formula donations to help mothers in need

After learning that local faith-based help organization the Treehouse had lost the primary contributor of infant formula it had used for years to aid mothers in need, 15-year-old Grace Donaldson decided she would figure out a way to close the overwhelming gap.

Grace, a Maize South High School student, was on a volunteer day at the Treehouse with her church youth group in December when executive director LeeAnn Vandervort asked for prayers.

The Treehouse had depleted its formula stockpile, Vandervort told the group. And its donation source was no longer available.

The loss amounts to $15,000 to $18,000 annually, she told the teens.

“When I heard that, that just struck me, and I thought, ‘Wow. That’s so much,’ ” Grace said.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about it and knew I had to help.”

Her solution is a project called 100,000 Ounces, which aims to raise thousands of containers of powdered, concentrated liquid and ready-to-feed baby formula through community donations to help the Treehouse replenish its supply.

Through March 31, new, sealed cans, packages and bottles of Similac-brand infant formulas – or its generic equivalent – can be dropped off inside several area businesses and organizations.

Money also can be donated online at www.onehundredthousandounces.org or www.wichitatreehouse.org.

The Treehouse, which opened in 2002 as an outreach program, distributes roughly 2,500 ounces of formula – plus diapers, layettes for newborns and other items – to mothers in need in Wichita each month, said Vandervort.

Most of the mothers are referred to the organization by other agencies. All are facing crises that have left them without sufficient resources to care for their children, she said.

“We’d been so spoiled we hadn’t had to buy formula in so long,” Vandervort said.

“So since this happened all of a sudden, we literally ran totally out (of formula) about five or six months ago, and we’ve just been buying it.”

But, she said, the formula goes fast, “because the need is great.”

The Treehouse, she explained, sees between 250 and 400 new mothers – as well as those who have received help in the past – every year.

“We’ve been really excited about it. It’s helping us,” Vandervort said of the 100,000 Ounces project.

“When women are struggling with being able to feed and cloth their babies, they can’t improve their situations,” she said. “Once you take that out of the mix, they can move forward.”

Grace, who brainstormed the project with her stepmother, Stacie Donaldson, hopes her month-long endeavor will yield 100,000 ounces of infant formula.

Last week, she said “a few hundred ounces” had already been donated thus far. But that still puts her more than 90,000 ounces – roughly 7,300 standard-sized cans of powdered formula – away from her goal.

So she’s making another plea for help to the community.

“There are mothers all over Wichita who have to struggle with feeding their kids every day,” she said. “Sometimes they don’t have enough money to buy formula, so they try to feed their babies water. And that’s much worse for the baby.

“Wichita is generous and a good city. ... I think it’s important to make it a good city for everyone.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2015 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Wichita teen seeking infant formula donations to help mothers in need."