Winnipeg Harvest needs $100K for baby formula

Winnipeg Harvest is in urgent need ofdonations to buy baby formula.

The food bank isaiming to raise $100,000for its Feeding Hungry Babies program, whichbuys infant formula, the only type of food that Winnipeg Harvest purchases all other food distributed by Winnipeg Harvest is donated.

"Despite the generous food donations by individuals and businesses in Manitoba, there is never enough infant formula to meet demand," stateda news release from the food bank.

Winnipeg Harvest spends $200,000 a year to purchase infant formula and shares it with an average 1,600 infants a month through their families. Since its inception in 2007, theFeeding Hungry Babies program has raised more than $1.5 million.

"Infancy is such a critical time for growth and development. Proper nutrition is absolutely essential for babies to get off to a healthy start," JoyceSlater of the University of Manitoba department of human nutritional sciences stated in the news release.

"They require the key vitamins and minerals in breast milk, but if mothers can't breastfeed, these nutrients need to be provided through high-quality breast milk substitutes such as infant formula."