LEON COUNTY, FLa. — Capital Area Healthy Start Coalition partnered with the Mothers' Milk Bank of Florida to provide local mothers with an opportunity to help make a difference by donating breast milk.
The charitable organization and nonprofit coalition have collaborated to become a milk donation site in Leon County due to babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare and HCA Florida Capital Hospital (formerly Capital Regional Medical Center) depending on this nourishment when the mothers' milk is not available.
“We are excited to partner with the Mother’s Milk Bank of Florida by becoming a milk donation site in Leon County,” said Chris Szorcsik, Executive Director of Capital Area Healthy Start Coalition. “In 2020, 11% of our babies in Leon and Wakulla Counties were born premature. Babies born premature depend on the lifesaving nourishment of donor milk to thrive when their mother’s milk is not available.”
According to Szorcsik, every drop of breast milk makes a difference in long-term survival for babies that are sick.
Capital Area Healthy Start's goal is to encourage mothers to become donors, raise awareness for the need of donor milk and to provide a convenient location for local mothers to donate their excess milk.
If interested in donating breast milk, visit https://capitalareahealthystart.org/milk-depot/ or contact Chris Szorcsik at (850) 488-0288, ext. 101.
Breast milk donors are requested to schedule an appointment.
For additional information about the charitable organization Mothers' Milk Bank of Florida and its donation process, visit https://milkbankofflorida.org/faq/.
