Breast is best…
On Thursday evening I received a fund-raising phone call. You know the kind…”Hi I’m calling from *blbkjskjd;akdj* (they mumble so you miss the name) and we are having a fundraising drive for Materna for poor women. She said something about 30 cans I think, but at that point I stopped listening.
I told the woman that I wasn’t willing to make a donation towards formula, that other things I would donate, but not for formula. She said why, and I said that I felt breastfeeding was very important, and that should be supported especially for people with financial difficulties, and not formula.
She went on to tell me that I was wrong, and that poor women needed formula, and not to breastfeed. She actually argued with me for a few minutes.
While I do acknowledge that there is a percentage of women who can’t breastfeed, I truly cannot support such an organization that focuses on formula. Especially when the woman doing the fundraising would rather argue with me about the necessity to give formula, rather than see if there is another need for their organization that I would be willing to fund.
No great loss, there are plenty of organizations to which I am willing to give my money.
I wrote a post about this a while ago. The problem is that these campaigns are paid for out of M*’s marketing budget. Did you intend provide a link to M*’s website?
Comment by mother in israel — November 17, 2008 @ 2:40 am
MiI:Ohhh I didn’t know it was even subversive!!! Yes I did intend the link, because it isn’t an international brand, and not everyone would know what it is. Could you e-mail me the name of the charity?
Comment by Safranit — November 17, 2008 @ 9:43 am
Well done! I probably would have done the same thing. How on earth can she claim that it’s better for poor women to give formula instead of breastfeed? What are they planning to do - donate every single container of formula that these women will ever need?
Comment by Liza R — November 17, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
I recently refused to give an organization that mentioned that they provide baby wipes. I know I’m extreme, but I don’t even buy baby wipes myself! When I had a baby, that is.
Comment by mother in israel — November 21, 2008 @ 9:16 am
argggg….that is so annoying. they should feed the woman and they can nurse thier babies. G-d.
I’d like to post a link to this page on my journal if I may,
Comment by Orli — November 27, 2008 @ 5:54 pm
I notice that Materna’s slogan is, “The Closest Thing to Mother’s Milk.” This implies that mother’s milk is the gold standard, and Materna is the NEXT best thing. I find it interesting that the woman who called you would argue that formula is better than breast milk considering that even Materna doesn’t make that claim. Is there the equivalent of La Leche League in Israel?
Comment by Zev — December 4, 2008 @ 2:06 am