Looking for baby formula? Here's how one Bucks County mom is addressing the shortage

Kathy Loftus Zang was at that very moment in May a grandmother nestling and nourishing her precious bundle of joy. A grandmother bottle-feeding her then-6-week-old granddaughter, Willow. A grandmother floating in a special kind of heaven.

Suddenly, the woman's loving gaze shifted from the inviting eyes of the newborn to the fast-emptying bottle. Infant formula and time. Both running out.

“Because of the formula shortage all over the country, we were worried we wouldn’t be able to find the special kind Willow needs because she was born two months early in April,” said Zang by phone from her Ridley Park home where she’s a sitter for her son and daughter-in-law's child. “Willow spent her first three weeks in the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit). She needs Similac NeoSure, which helps preemies get the vitamins they need for brain building. We couldn’t find it anywhere. We were panicking because we were running out. We just needed to find it, and fast.”

Addressing the baby formula shortage

What Zang found for her tiny gift from heaven was, well, a gift from heaven.

She learned about a Facebook group named “Formula Hunters.” The site was created by Christine Robinson, of Furlong, a married mother of three who experienced her own difficulty finding formula for her 6-month-old son, Brody.

So she leveraged her expertise in supply and demand from a nearly 15-year career in resource management to develop a social media platform designed to connect folks who have access to formula to those who desperately need it.

After conducting a time-consuming research, Robinson developed a formula-tracking database that broadens a person’s search radius beyond their local grocery stores and food markets by mobilizing formula hunters throughout the country. Members of the group — it numbers more than 1,400 just eight weeks after its launch — join the Facebook site, fill out a form with their name, the child’s formula brand, and how soon they’ll run out. The information is drawn into a database prioritized by need and viewable by the group.

Quite simply, members are on the hunt for all kinds of formula as they make routine trips to the store. They purchase as much as they can, identify on the Facebook site who is next in line to receive that particular kind of formula, and ship it to them, free. No exchange of money; kind of a pay-it-forward process that for children like Willow has been a Godsend.

“I knew what other mothers were dealing with due to the formula shortage, because I was dealing with it,” said Robinson, whose project has helped 350 families receive much-needed formula at no cost to them. “We were definitely struggling to find his formula, and he didn’t have any special allergies or gastrointestinal issues. We weren’t looking for some unique formula for Brody, yet it was still hard to find. I knew there had to be a better solution than to wait until the shortage was over.”

Enter Robinson to find the right formula to find formula.

“This was never about me wanting to be the guru of formula,” said Robinson, who is assisted on the Facebook site by group expert Jessica Tuccillo, of Furlong, and moderator Mary Hales, of New York state. “I started to see what other Facebook groups existed to learn what other ideas were out there. I saw that people all over the place were looking for formula they just couldn’t find. There’d be a mom posting about finding Gerber Good Start, and another mom saying she needs it.

“I just wanted to find a way to help. One time, we had someone from New York who found formula there and shipped it to a mom in Albuquerque, N.M. We’ve had people from all over the country finding and sending formula to those who need it."

Baby formula scammers

The baby formula shortage is a result of the shutdown in February of the Abbott Nutrition plant in Michigan, due to an FDA investigation into contamination. That plant was responsible for producing 25% of the nation’s baby formula. Coupled with the supply chain crisis nationally, the shutdown created a supply shock that continues to leave store shelves at or near empty and parents and caregivers scrambling to find formula. The plant subsequently shut down a second time, in June, due to widespread flooding. While the plant recently resumed production, it is undetermined when store shelves will begin to be fully restocked.

For Robinson, a major concern as she formulated a process to find formula were scammers and profiteers.

“I didn’t want to launch the site until we had a safeguard against scammers,” said Robinson. “Now, I have no skillset to know if someone is a scammer. I decided the best strategy was to make it unappealing to scammers. I figured you can’t get scammed out of money if you don’t have to send money. And people have been willing to help that way.

“It’s easy to follow. People look at the database, see the needs, and who’s running out. The idea is, let’s all collectively hunt down the formula for people at the top of the list. The sooner we do that, the faster others will move up on the list. It’s all about paying it forward."

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Strangers help find baby formula

The stories of desperation are heartbreaking. Robinson shares them, as well as the happy endings because of "Formula Hunters." A Montgomery County mom had run out of Enfamil Nutramigen, which she fed to her 8-month-old with a sensitive G.I. system. She saw on the Facebook site that others, too, were in search of that brand. She reached out to Robinson, not to receive, but to give.

“She said that she could probably spare a can of hers to give to another mom,” said Robinson. “But she said she couldn’t ship it out right away because she had work. I asked her where she lived; she said Ambler. I was working too. But a neighbor of mine who's in the Facebook group said she could change her plans to pick up the formula. She did, and dropped it off to me.

“I drove it to Feasterville to the mom who needed it. This woman comes out of the house with her baby boy and tells me that after that night, she wouldn’t have had any more to feed him. She said she called 100 places that day looking for it. She couldn’t thank me enough.

“Another story is of a man who drove to 18 stores for formula, but couldn’t find the one he needed. One of the people in our group saw that and sent him what he needed.”

Biz Bogarde of Mount Laurel, N.J., is another who felt the love of a stranger due to Formula Hunters. She had run out of Enfamil NeuroPro, which helps with brain building and immune support, for her 7-month-old son, Travis. Trips to countless pharmacies and stores proved unsuccessful in locating the formula.

“A person on the website saw what I needed and sent it to me,” said Bogarde. “She wouldn’t take any money for it or the shipping. She even sent me the tracking number and then called me to find out if I got it.

“When I asked her about her own child, she told me she doesn’t have children. She just wanted to help. How about that?”

There are difference-makers among us. Some reach into their pockets for money; others into their hearts for change, cobbling those jingling bits of this and that which, when added up, make change for the better.

“There’s a lot of bad news out there in the world,” said Robinson. “This project is good news. There’s a big part of me that is very moved by this. It’s very powerful to see people come together for strangers who need help. The willingness for people to help this way has been there. I’ve just provided a forum.”

A review of comments on the "Formula Hunters" Facebook group stands as an encouraging example of how in this polarized society folks will set aside their differences to come together and make a difference:

"Thank you so much! My baby is going to be so happy to get this formula!"

"I found this formula. Hope it can help someone. Let me know and I'll ship it out!"

"To say thank you for this formula is an understatement!"

"Thank you for your formula donations! We have a happy boy here!"

"This made me tear up. Thank you for your kindness."

"What people are willing to do for one another, people they don't even know, gives me such a positive feeling," said Bogarde. "What Christine has created here shows what can be done when people work together."

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'Epitome of what's right in the world'

Kathy Loftus Zang nestles and nourishes her newborn granddaughter. She thanks God for the bundle of joy. And saves some thanks for another.

"I'm not surprised this Facebook group has worked," she said. "With all going on in the world, and not all of it good, this shows there's a basic humanity in people.. For grandmothers like me, or mothers we know, we all can't go without formula for too long. This has restored my faith after seeing the lengths people will go to help others with babies.

"Christine sent me the formula we needed for Willow. We might not have gotten along without her. I don't know who any of us would have gotten what we needed without Christine. She is the epitome of what’s right in this world.”

Imagine being one of those parents, running out of formula for your child, and running out of time. Imagine the worry. Imagine the panic. I can't imagine. Christine Robinson, a mom, imagined something more. She couldn't imagine not doing something to help. So she did, helping send formula to babies.

And their moms to a special kind of heaven.

Columnist Phil Gianficaro can be reached at 215-345-3078, pgianficaro@theintell.com, and @philgianficaro1 on Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County mom launches Facebook group to address formula shortage