Thursday, January 8, 2009

Taking Baby Formula to Ethiopia

I am glad to see such a great response to the post on taking milk. I've done a bit more investigating and found that NaN (the choice formula) is the first that contained bifidus cultures making it more like breast milk that strengthens the immune system.

I believe that the orphanages are happy to have the help and support and that it is also important for the babies to have some continuity of formula. I am asking that if people take over formula that they consider taking Nestle Good Start with Natural Cultures. It seems to be the closest to Nestle's NaN formula.

Nestle Good Start with Natural Cultures comes in a formula for babies 0-12 months and a formula for babies 9-24 months. NaN 1 for infants seems to be the hardest to find so people might want to keep that in mind. Nope I don't work for Nestle or have any interest other than trying to provide continuity for the babies.

You can check out this formula against others. Right now you can get a 6 24oz cans from Amazon.com shipped free for $103. Diapers.com has Good Start NC 1for $170 and Good Start NC 2 for $150.

I know everyone wants to help and it might be most helpful if we try to reduce the number of brands and different formulations that we are taking to Ethiopia.

My Plan from Here:
  1. Contact Nestle to find out if there is a way that we can get them to donate NaN or if they will set up a way that others can pay for the formula and they will ship it directly to Ethiopia.
  2. Contact Nestle to find out if we can set up some sort of bulk purchasing for Good Start in the U.S.
  3. Check to see if there is another manufacturing that might help with number 1 and 2.
  4. Initiate a milk drive that communicates the need and focuses family on one brand or formulation.
I am counting on you all to get the word out, continue making suggestions, and helping to formulate a plan. Feel free to post this information on your own blogs and someone can post this information to the big ET board as well. If you find a good price POST it!

10 comments:

Rebecca and Andrew said...

Valerie,
Thank you so much for the legwork. I am currently researching as well and looking into buying in bulk. We leave in a couple of weeks so we're scrambling to see how much we can take.
I appreciate the passion you put into your blog and educating the rest of us!
Rebecca

Rebecca and Andrew said...

Me again...found more at a site called Bulk for Cheap: http://www.bulkforcheap.com/negostsuinfo.html

Check it out! =)

Jennifer said...

I just bought from Amazon and it says there are only two 6pks left at the $103 price!!!

Anonymous said...

I contacted Nestle with the same request in August and received a nice letter in response that said they can not help me. I spoke to their customer relations department as well.

We bought quite a bit of formula on e-Bay and Craigslist and it was much cheaper than we could have found it any other place. (We made sure it was still sealed and not expired before purchasing.)

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

The following organizations work with companies to get formula and medical supplies for humanitarian aid. You can see if they can act on your behalf to get Nestle to donate or reduce the cost of formula.

Americare
MAP International
Project Hope

Angela said...

Thanks for the clarification. We have Good Start locally and I was thinking it's probably the same formula with USDA guidelines.

hazel said...

This is fantastic - great work, Valarie. I will link to this post on my blog.

Jebena said...

Thanks for the valuable information Val!!!

P.S. Glad to know you're home, safe, sound and loving on your children. Hit us up with a post soon!

Abeon said...

Wow... This really does seem like good work. I'm sure it's well appreciated!

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