HMBANA Receives W.K. Kellogg Foundation Support to Address Racial Inequities in the Use of Pasteurized Donor Human Milk
FORT WORTH, Tx. Nov. 17, 2020 – The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) is pleased to announce that it has received a $525,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for use over the next three years. The support will allow HMBANA to ensure equitable access to pasteurized donor human milk (PDHM), which has historically been limited in BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) communities.
“We are humbled to receive a grant that will help us address the glaringly important issue of equitable access to donor human milk,” said Lindsay Groff, Executive Director, HMBANA. “By growing and diversifying our base of milk donors and receivers, we will seek to reduce infant morbidity and mortality in the United States, while addressing structural racial inequities and disparities in the use of pasteurized donor human milk. It is our duty as an organization to eliminate racial disparities in access to human milk to help babies and families thrive.”
HMBANA is the accrediting organization for nonprofit milk banks in North America and is distinctively situated to further examine and document structural inequities in the provision of PDHM.
HMBANA aims to reduce racially disproportionate use of pasteurized donor human milk through better understanding the structural barriers in accessing PDHM and developing systemic strategies to reduce those barriers with a long-term goal of reducing infant morbidity and mortality rates in communities of color.
Last year, HMBANA member milk banks distributed nearly 7.4 million ounces of pasteurized donor human milk to fragile babies throughout the United States and Canada, representing a nearly one million increase over the prior year. The association aims to maintain the steady growth with a keen interest in getting milk to babies in areas where access has previously been limited or denied.
About the Human Milk Banking Association of North America
HMBANA believes in a world where all infants have access to human milk through support of breastfeeding and use of pasteurized donor human milk.
Founded in 1985, the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA) mobilizes the healing power of donor milk by accrediting nonprofit milk banks in the US and Canada and setting international guidelines for pasteurized donor human milk.
Our 30 members help mothers donate their extra breast milk for use by fragile infants as medicine. Our efforts ensure that the process is evidence-based and clinically sound. Together, we advocate for donor milk as a universal standard of care, regardless of ability to pay.
About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work, and life.
The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special attention is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.
