Got Milk? Young Mom Finds Her Mission
By Bigg Success Staff
05-06-08
Inspirational Stories
Jill Youse had a supply problem – she had too much! She had been freezing extra breast milk for her new baby girl, but she knew she didn’t need it all. So she searched the internet for a place to donate her reserve milk.
She only found one organization in South Africa that provided breast milk to orphans. So she contacted them, but they told her that they couldn’t make it work logistically.
But Jill Youse is a very determined person. She found a way to make it work, and in doing so, launched the International Breast Milk Project (IBMP).
Now two years later, she has been featured on Oprah and ABC News, in Women’s Health and Time , by Daryn Kagan in her book What’s Possible, and on well-known web sites such as Freakonomics, Gimundo, and now Bigg Success!
According to UNICEF, babies in the developing world are six times more likely to survive their first two months if they are fed breast milk. The IBMP says that approximately four million infants worldwide die before they reach four weeks in age.
Breast milk helps boost their immune system better than any other alternative. Delaying breast milk feeding just one day can double the infant’s chances of dying before one month.
The IBMP was the first organization in the world to provide breast milk from the United States to orphans in Africa. Today, approximately one-fourth of the milk donated goes to Africa. The rest goes to critically ill infants in the United States.
This IBMP makes money from the milk that stays in the United States to support other initiatives – such as funding rain water harvesting tanks and a water purification system for a children’s home in Kenya and a healthcare center in Tanzania.
Jill’s organization has received the Charities Review Council Seal for meeting all sixteen of its Accountability Standards. According to the IBMP’s web site, 99 percent of all monies received go to programming, with less than one percent for management and fundraising expenses. Now that’s efficiency!
The IBMP’s next shipment is scheduled for this month – over 55,000 ounces of mothers’ milk will be delivered to Africa. That’s the result of thousands of woman donating their excess breast milk. In the process, they become philanthropists who are making a bigg difference.
You can help out the IBMP by donating milk, money or mind power! They are growing rapidly and need any resources you’re willing to offer. Check out their web site for more details!
Jill started with a small problem and turned it into an opportunity to solve a large one, ounce by ounce. She’s a mom on a mission!
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