Dear Friend,
We have all heard of the widespread problem of poverty in Israel – hungry adults, ill-fed children. But it is a well-kept secret that thousands of infants are starving as well – because their mothers are too malnourished or ill to nurse them, and yet in such abject financial straits that they cannot afford to purchase formula instead. These children are constantly hungry, as well as at great risk for the serious developmental challenges that can result from poor nutrition.
The Yad Eliezer Keren Eliyahu Feed-a-Baby Program is the only program that cares specifically for these infants. We feed over 2,200 infants whose mothers are unable to nurse but cannot afford to purchase formula, providing these hungry babies with the proper nourishment to develop into healthy children. The program is carefully monitored to ensure that it does not become a substitute for nursing, which is always the preferred way to feed a child.
In the nearly nineteen years of the program’s existence, we have never turned a baby away. But today, with the collapse of the dollar’s value and the increasing financial stress on American families, the Feed-A-Baby program has been driven into severe economic straits. We have been compelled to turn away new mothers, knowing that we are leaving them and their babies without options. Recently we have been forced to contemplate cutting each infant recipient’s monthly allotment from the requisite six cans of formula to just four.
We now work directly with Materna, Israel’s largest baby formula company, who chose to partner with us in feeding the country’s youngest and neediest citizens. Materna generously sells us cans of formula at half price, which allows us to double the reach of our budget. Consequently, the entire month’s allotment of six cans costs just $36. This is a small amount for us, but a large one for Israel’s hungriest infants. On their behalf, we turn to you for help. Click HERE to be a part of this great Mitzvah!
With greatest appreciation,
Sori Tropper,
Chair, American Friends of Yad Eliezer.
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3 Responses
This sounds like a wonderful program. Would it also be possible to provide food for the mothers, so they can be healthy and nurse their babies, or are those running the program concerned that the mothers will give the food to other family members instead of eating it themselves?
To: Anon For This
I am sure there are a variety of reasons why the mothers are unable to nurse their children other than they themselves being malnourished.
Secondly, if the mothers cant afford to purchase formula do you think they can afford to give away food ???!!!
(Thirdly, even if they did give the food away it would probably go to other poor families)
To: yungerman1
I’m sure there are other reasons that these women can’t nurse their babies–but malnourishment is the first reason mentioned in the article. If a mother is so malnourished that she can’t nurse her baby, it’s essential that she be given food as well, if for no other reason than because a malnourished mother can’t provide the best care for her baby. What I was saying is that it’s possible that a mother in this situation might be inclined to give the food to her other children, who might also be hungry, whether or not she can actually “afford” to do it. (one advantage of formula is that it would go directly to the baby, who would suffer the most lasting effects due to malnourishment).