HOUSTON – A Houston mom is helping parents find baby formula during a nationwide shortage.
Marcela Young has a busy household.
“I have an 8-month-old at home,” she said. “I’m a working mom and my husband is going to grad school.”
So, when the engineer kept hearing about baby formula shortages, she went to work.
“I was just trying to think of there’s got to be something I can do,” Young said.
She created a crowdsourcing map called “Fighting the Formula Shortage.”
“You access the map through a link and when you get to the site, you add a point to the map,” Young explained.
It allows the user to mark stores where there is baby formula. A person can also mark they’re in need of it or willing to give it away.
“You can put on the map the H-E-B that you’re at, as well as pictures of what formulas that you’re seeing on the shelves,” she said.
It’s not just Houston -- the need is nationwide, and the map is connecting moms to more than formula.
“There’s a lot of different circumstances and it’s really nice to be able to spread that awareness that this is not something that’s just convenient, it’s a need,” Rebecca Bean said.
Bean is a new mom living in Utah.
“My daughter is drinking 30 to 40 ounces a day right now,’ she said.
The Houston native is using the map to log where she is finding formula for her 6-month-old -- while also connecting with different generations looking to help.
“You’re hearing all kinds of stories of examples of how it was for them when they had children,” Bean explained.
“I even had some pins in Alaska at one point,” Young said. “Even a pin, someone all the way from London offering to donate formula.”
Proof a small gesture can have a big impact.
“There (are) so many bad things happening, but there’s still a lot of good in humanity,” Young said.
Instagram: @fighting_formula_shortage
Facebook group: “Fighting Formula Shortage”