A parent support group has collected baby formula for the Saskatoon Food Bank in honour of families who have lost children.
“From my experience, when you lose a baby, you really want to try and find a way to give back and give some meaning to that loss,” Krysta Shacklock, a volunteer at the Empty Arms Perinatal Loss Support Services, said.
The drive began with Lynette Crellin, a Saskatoon mom whose daughter died more than eight years ago. In her daughter’s name, Crellin has donated a case of baby formula every December since the death.
This year, Crellin moved to Vancouver Island, but Empty Arms volunteers wanted to keep Crellin’s legacy alive.
“I can’t let this tradition stop,” Shacklock, said.
“I thought, ‘I could just donate a case myself, or I could talk to friends and family and try to make it bigger and see if people wanted to support us,’ and they did.”
Shacklock and other volunteers collected a bin full of baby formula and diaper donations from local businesses and moms.
According to the food bank executive director, it typically takes about two weeks to collect a bin of baby formula because it is more expensive than canned food.
