PERRYSBURG — A local woman has formed a Facebook group to try to help families affected by the baby formula shortage.
Two weeks ago, Carly Salamone, a Perrysburg resident, saw the need and a potential short-term solution. The Facebook page is called “Formula/Feeding Support- Perrysburg.” It’s free and open to the public.
“I have a 2-year-old and an almost-5-year-old and neither of them were actually formula fed, but I saw all the need of my friends whose kids were on formula, and people in our community posting on a lot of different social media pages,” Salamone said.
The posts were general inquiries for sightings of formula.
“That gave me the idea that we could put a group together to put all of that in one place,” she said.
It’s just for local pick-up and tips, or notices, that someone has seen formula available in a store.
“If somebody needs a certain formula that they haven’t been able to find, then they can post it on the page,” Salamone said.
The baby formula shortage created the group’s simple goal, assisting families in their search for formula to feed their children.
A common tactic is taking a photo of the formula on the shelf with the location. Others post their needs.
Extra unneeded formula is also posted, as is available breast milk donations.
There is a warning on the site, “IMPORTANT: While you can ask that people pay you what you paid for the formula, it is illegal to resell any formula that was purchased through WIC.”
The shortage was caused by the February shutdown of Abbott Nutrition’s baby formula plant in Sturgis, Michigan. Unsanitary conditions were cited by the Food and Drug Administration. The resulting recall, followed by the shutdown has caused the empty store shelves.
The need is out there. The group already has 165 members.
“It’s grown pretty quickly, just through word-of-mouth through other moms, or people posting on other community pages and people recommending that they join the group,” Salamone said.
Estimates of Abbott Lab’s percentage of the market ranges from 25% to 40%, depending on the type of formula.
“It’s causing shortages now across all of the formulas, right? Think about it. If a mom can’t find the right formula, they will go to another brand that’s similar and now they are buying out that formula,” she said. “If you can use whatever formula is on the shelf, then you will be able to find something. There’s never a day when we don’t have anything in Perrysburg, but babies have so many sensitivities and allergies. Their bellies get used to a specific formula and what we are finding is that it’s getting really hard to find those specialty formulas, or the sensitive formulas that most of our moms are looking for.”
Salamone encouraged anyone to join. It’s not just for moms. She knows there are already some grandparents in the group, but anyone who can help is welcome to join in pairing up the needy babies with the right formula.
