HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - The worsening baby formula shortage is burdening many parents across the country and even right here at home.
But here in Hampton Roads, mothers who have hit dead ends have found a way to help each other.
The saying, “it takes a village” rings truer in times of need.
And with parents desperately scrambling to find ways to feed their babies, a local mom created the “Hampton Roads Formula Swap” Facebook group to help out.
Kaitlyn Hassler created the group after seeing tons of posts in other local Facebook groups from parents searching for formula and people posting about what they were seeing on store shelves.
But she wanted a central place for everyone to connect.
So, she created the group in the hopes that members could share what they were finding and where they were finding it, uploading pics and store names in real-time so that anxious parents can get what they’re looking for as quickly as possible.
Hassler doesn’t even have a baby on formula right now, but she saw the need and decided to step up and help families that don’t know where their next bottle will be coming from.
“The shelves are bare. And I know that a lot of babies, you know, they need hypoallergenic formula or they need special formula, and other formulas just come right back up, and it's useless to them, and so the need is great,” said Hassler.
“I mean, I started this group a week ago, and there's already over 800 members and dozens and dozens of posts every day. And everyone's really coming together trying to get each individual baby what they need.”
Hassler's hope is that more people will see the group, see what’s available locally and get there in time to buy what their babies need.
If you’d like to take a look or help, you can join the group.
Related: Hampton Roads parents working to keep babies fed amid worsening formula shortage
