I have been a emergency shelter manager and disaster volunteer for years and 
in the USA one of the problems with formula distribution is the frauduous use 
of donated artificial baby milk.  Before we could even get food supplies and 
clean water in place after Hurricane Floyd, the formula companies were 
unloading truckloads of powdered formula.  In my shelter we had 2 babies under the age 
of 1. one was Bf and 1 formula fed. We didn't need a truckload of formula.  
We were in a school without access to being able to store mixed milk, clean 
bottles, sterilize water, etc. People were sleeping on pallets on the floor.We hd 
diseases erupting, insects were coming in too get away from the water and 
storing open cans of formula (even with the plastic cover) was a risk I didn't 
want to take.The very next day when people heard we had formula, strangers were 
lining up at the door wanting formula.  So I developed a system to insure safe 
distribution of ABM. I told people to bring the baby bottles to the shelter, 
the nurses would then sterilize the bottles, instruct the people on how to 
safely clean the bottles and mix the formula with bottled water, and then the 
nurses would measure out the correct amount in each bottle and give them the 
appropriate amount of bottled water to mix with it. It was strange but no one 
brought bottles back to the shelter to get formula after I announced that. In a 
town of 4000 people it seemed like a extra ordinarily large amount of people who 
suddenly had babies.  And the ages of the fathers asking for formula seemed 
older and more seedy looking  then most new dads. At the donation distribution 
center one day, i saw a pickup truck loading up the entire rear bed with 
formula. When I asked the center manager who it was, she said it was a minister who 
said he had a large group of new mothers in his church. When we asked him to 
fill out a form with the name and address of his church, he couldn't remember 
because he said he had just moved.  What people do is to get the formula and 
take it to a big discount store and trade it in for a gift card that they can 
use for whatever. Or they use it to cut cocaine. Or sell it at the flea market. 
What is really needed in a disaster ( and we finally got it in place 3 weeks 
later) is for WIC to set up a satellite center in the shelter so they can 
properly access needs, provide education, etc. They can issue emergency vouchers, 
much like the emergency food stamps issued after a disaster.
After hurricane Isabel devastated Hatteras Island, they ended up with a huge 
supply of formula in the donation center. There were only 2 babies on the 
island, both of whom were breastfed. So the formula took up space and resources 
being transported in on the ferry that could have been used for truly needed 
resources. And the water supply was cut off and residents had to walk to the 
corner, pick up the water and take home. With no electricity and water a precious 
commodity, how would bottles be cleaned. And in every disaster, the fomula 
donated includes a large amount of specialty formulas that should not be handed 
out to just anyone.
If the artificial baby milk industry truly had the best interests of the 
survivors at heart, they would donate money to the Aid organizations who have 
assessment teams in place and truly know and understand what is needed at each 
stage of recovery.
Barb Whitehead
Eastern NC

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