Woman Donates Over 1000 Ounces Breastmilk To Hurricane Harvey Victims

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When St. Louis Mom, Danielle Palmer’s son Truett was born with a congenital heart defect, she said she prayed that beauty would come from the terrible situation.

Six months later and she’s finally seeing a ray of sunshine from the storm.

Palmer, 31, has just donated a surplus of her saved breast milk — 1,040 ounces, or about about 346 feedings worth — to families affected by Hurricane Harvey.

“The first month of [Truett’s] life, he was unable to eat,” the mom of three said to TODAY. “All the milk I was pumping was going into the freezer.” She continued to pump and save the milk during all of her son’s surgeries — which amounts to eight, to date.

Palmer had donated some of her supply to another Mother in the area, so it wasn’t a secret she had extra milk. Her son’s speech therapist Nicole Edwin is part of an organization which is called Guiding Star Mid-Missouri, a women’s support group, which was seeking donations after the hurricane. Edwin reached out to Palmer as she knew she had an oversupply.

“I was excited,” Palmer said. “I had this large stash and knew I could share that with someone.”She said seeing the news and devastation of the hurricane had made her emotional about the families who were affected, and knowing some had lost their stashes of milk and pumps was hard. “The least I can do is give back to someone in need.”

Along with the breast milk, Palmer also donated formula and bottles of water, among other things. She said that she hoped this story would help normalize breastfeeding, but also noted that it’s important not to discredit moms who can’t or choose not to breastfeed.

The breast milk has been transported to Dallas on a freezer in a trailer, and Palmer said she just got word that it made it there safely, still frozen and in good condition.

“I’m overjoyed that I can help,” she said.

For more ways to help Hurricane Harvey victims, check out our “Helping After Harvey” efforts.

Hurricane Harvey was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005, ending a record 12-year period with no major hurricanes making landfall in the country. The hurricane brought as many as 50 inches of rain in some places. At least a dozen people have died, according to local media reports.

Last week we reported on a shivering toddler that was found clinging to her mother, who had died trying to keep her child safe from harm.

“At some point she was swept into the canal and ended up floating about [a half] mile from her vehicle,” the department said in a statement.

Two police officers then saw that the child was holding on to her mother.

“Water was up to the trestle and first responders would not have been able to save the child if they had floated under it. Officers pulled the child and the mother into the boat and got them to the area of the 3700 block of Bayou. The mother was unresponsive,” the statement reads.

Officials say the unnamed woman and her daughter were driving on a service road when water inundated their vehicle. Then, the mother pulled the car over and exited the vehicle with her toddler, before she was swept into a canal.