Orlando, Fla., Feb 7, 2018 / 04:13 pm (CNA/EWTN News).-
Recognized for evangelization through Catholic media, EWTN Chairman and CEO Michael P. Warsaw received the Bowie Kuhn Special Award for Evangelization during the recent 2018 Legatus Summit in Orlando, Fl.
“All of us as Catholics, and particularly those of us in Catholic media, have a responsibility to reach out to the peripheries of society and to address the needs of people who are living in spiritual poverty,” Warsaw said during his acceptance speech, according to an EWTN press release.
“Sometimes, that means reaching out and serving people somewhere across the globe, but more often than not it’s about reaching out to our neighbors next door or down the street who are living in the depths of spiritual poverty and sharing with them the beauty, truth and goodness of the faith,” Warsaw added.
The Legatus Summit was held Jan. 25-27 in Orlando. The conference included speakers Ryan Anderson and Scott Hahn, and was sponsored by Legatus, a membership organizations for Catholic business leaders, which champions the motto, “Ambassadors for Christ in the marketplace.”
The award was presented to Warsaw by Tom Monaghan, Legatus Chairman and Founder of Domino’s Pizza, and Jack McAleer, member of EWTN’s Board of Governors and Legatus Secretary.
Past recipients of the award include Curtis Martin, founder of the Catholic campus ministry FOCUS; Tim Busch, attorney and philanthropist; Thomas Peterson, President and Founder of Catholics Come Home; and Luisa Kuhn, wife of the late baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn.
EWTN Global Catholic Network is the largest media network in the world, with 11 television channels on broadcast in multiple different languages, reaching more than 275 million households in over 145 countries. EWTN platforms also include radio, news services, and a publishing division. EWTN’s electronic and print news services include Catholic News Agency, The National Catholic Register newspaper, and several global news wire services; as well as EWTN Publishing, its book publishing division.
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Leon is a baby boy cared for and loved at Mary’s Shelter, a pro-life maternity home in Fredericksburg, Virginia. / Courtesy of Mary’s Shelter
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 24, 2022 / 13:15 pm (CNA).
Amid a shortage of baby formula in the U.S., experts recommend parents scour smaller drug stores, check online, and join social media groups sharing information.
But here’s another, perhaps lesser-known, option they can also turn to for help: pregnancy resource centers.
Nearly 3,000 pro-life pregnancy centers serve millions of people each year in the United States. They offer women and parents in need everything from health care and material assistance to educational classes and job support — at little to no cost. Right now, for many of these centers, their work also includes connecting struggling families to baby formula.
One center in Michigan, an affiliate of Heartbeat International, a pro-life pregnancy resource center network, revealed to CNA that it has a surplus of formula.
“At this time, we haven’t heard of formula shortages at the pregnancy centers,” Andrea Trudden, vice president of communications and marketing at Heartbeat International, told CNA. “Quite the contrary, actually!”
Trudden recommended families turn to their local pregnancy help organizations for assistance and use OptionLine.org as a tool to find the center closest to them.
“Since pregnancy centers are equipped to help pregnant women and new families with practical resources such as diapers and formula,” Trudden said, “they have been able to step into that gap during this time.”
Some pro-life maternity homes in states such as Virginia and North Carolina said mothers are in desperate need and exploring all of their options, including feeding their babies with formula samples. But, these homes tell CNA, they are walking with mothers in their search, every step of the way.
What is this shortage about?
The nationwide baby formula shortage was caused, and then exacerbated, by a series of factors: supply-chain issues, recalls, the closure of a major production plant in February, and even U.S. trade policy. The result, data-firm company Datasembly found, is that more than 40 percent of baby formulas were out of stock in early May.
Babies with special needs and allergies rely on formula, along with babies in general. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 63.3% of infants were exclusively breastfeeding seven days after birth in 2018. Three months after birth, only 46.3% of infants exclusively breastfed. Six months after birth, that percentage changed to 25.8%
The trouble with formula began partially with the Covid-19 pandemic. Parents stockpiled baby formula at the beginning, which increased production, only to later discover that they had a surplus to use up, which decreased production.
After consuming formula from an Abbott plant in Sturgis, Michigan, four babies became sick, including two who died, from bacterial infections. This led to a recall and the plant shutting down in February.
These incidents exposed the formula market as one not structurally prepared for emergencies, with just four companies largely in control of supply in the United States. U.S. and regulatory trade policy only added to the problem, restricting the exchange of formula internationally, The Atlantic reported.
Months into the shortage, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reached an agreement with Abbott, one of the largest U.S. baby formula manufacturers, to reopen its Sturgis plant in the coming weeks. President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to prioritize the production of formula. And, in the meantime, the U.S. military has begun importing formula from Europe.
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have called for action. Senate Democrats are pushing a bill that would send $28 million in emergency funding to the FDA. Congress passed, and Biden signed into law, a bill to expand access to formula for lower-income families during emergencies.
In the meantime, before the shelves are fully stocked once more, pregnancy centers and maternity homes around the country are helping parents in need.
“I have never seen this much formula. We have an overflow!” Lois Stoll, a volunteer who manages the formula supply at the center, said in a press release. The center, one of Heartbeat International’s 1,857 affiliate locations, accumulated its surplus over the last two years, during the pandemic.
“It really is the result of an unexpected set of circumstances,” Bryce Asberg, the executive director, added in the release. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of clients fell but donations continued to come in.”
Asberg told CNA that the center has been running a material assistance program for several years where it provides mothers and families with baby clothes, diapers, wipes, and baby food or formula.
“We still offer all those items to clients who come in, but recently we have noticed a surge of interest in formula,” he said. “God has been building our supply of formula for many months, and we didn’t know why we had so much. Now we do!”
Washington, D.C.
In Washington, D.C., Janet Durig, the executive director of Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center, said that her center also has baby formula on hand.
“We’ve had some phone calls seeking help and we’ve had formula to give them,” she told CNA. But, she emphasized, the supply is limited because they rely on donations.
“We have it to help people on a limited basis and are helping people on a limited basis,” she said, adding that the center welcomes donations of unopened bottles or cans of formula as long as they have not expired.
Connecticut
Leticia Velasquez, executive director and co-founder of Pathways Pregnancy in Norwich, Connecticut, encouraged moms and families to reach out if they need formula.
She told CNA that the three-year-old center is there for any woman or mom in need.
“We just say, ‘How can we fill the need? That’s what we’re here for,’” she said. “We definitely stand with them in any crisis, whether it be a formula shortage or an unplanned pregnancy.”
Parents in eastern Connecticut looking for baby formula can text the center at (860) 222-4505.
North Carolina
Debbie Capen, the executive director of MiraVia, said that the baby formula shortage is affecting her group’s work in supporting and providing resources to new moms in need. The Catholic nonprofit runs an outreach center in Charlotte and a free college residence at nearby Belmont Abbey College where a pregnant student — from any university or college — can stay until her child turns two years old.
“Yes, the mothers we serve are very concerned about the baby formula shortage,” Capen told CNA. “We always encourage breastfeeding for our expectant mothers, but for those who cannot breastfeed, they usually rely on vouchers for baby formula through the USDA’s WIC program.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s WIC program, also known as the “Special Supplementation Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children,” offers federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant and postpartum women, and young children at nutritional risk.
Capen highlighted that WIC only covers one specific brand of formula, which means that moms must pay full price for any other label. Formula is at a premium price right now, she added, which only puts more stress on their limited resources.
In each state, baby formula manufacturers bid for exclusive rights to provide formula to WIC participants in that state. In return, they offer the state discounts, or rebates. For those who rely on WIC, this means that they face limited options.
In response to the scarcity, the mothers at MiraVia are turning to alternatives: food pantries and the MiraVia community.
“They communicate with our staff and each other when they find formula at a certain location, as well as contact stores to find out when shipments are expected,” Capen said. “They substitute with generic brands when possible and reach out to their pediatricians for recommendations and even free samples.”
Capen listed some ways that people can help during this shortage, beginning with communication and the sharing of resources.
“For example, you can help by searching posts on social media and community apps like NextDoor or OfferUp to find those with formula and suggest where it can be donated,” she said. “Remind friends and family not to stockpile so that the supply of formula can flow to those in most urgent need. If you are pregnant and have received free samples of formula, donate what you won’t use to food pantries or programs for new mothers.”
Virginia
Kathleen Wilson, the executive director of Mary’s Shelter, a faith-centered maternity home in Fredericksburg, Virginia, agreed that “our moms have had many difficulties.”
She told CNA about one of their mothers who gave birth to her fourth baby three months ago. At first, she used a formula brand called Enfamil Reguline. After it became unavailable, she began switching between brands and using whatever she can find, Wilson said. The mother has also tried ordering on Amazon and turned to her pediatrician for samples.
“This is a mom who is trying to hold down a job, with an infant and other children to tend to,” Wilson stressed the “very difficult” situation.
Wilson said that two of the other mothers spent days driving around at one point to try to find formula for their babies. When necessary, they are also turning to sample packets of baby formula.
“Our staff and volunteers have been assisting with this and picking up and delivering formula when they can get their hands on it,” Wilson said, adding that donors have also pitched in.
“We are blessed with wonderful donors,” she said. “A friend just stopped in this morning with two cans of formula that he was able to find.”
“If donors are willing and can find formula, we would be thrilled to take their donation,” she said, concluding that she is “praying this comes to an end soon.”
Philadelphia, Pa., May 8, 2019 / 05:15 pm (CNA).- Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia called for broad participation in a pro-life rally this week, scheduled in response to a Penslyvania state representative’s livestreamed harassment of a w… […]
2 Comments
We are trying to attract people to come to the Catholic faith, but when we listen to political sermons at Sunday mass on TV basically ordering people to follow and stand behind Trump who does not behave or is in the image of GOD, we are getting disgusted with our faith. We have pre-existing conditions & have not been at any gatherings, including church, but we do not miss it on TV.
We are horrified at Catholic statues being destroyed, but even more horrified at listening to the priest serving mass from Alabama- 8A.M. Sunday Aug 2, 2020. As we watched him encouraging parishioners from the pulpit to vote for Trump. Trump is NOT in GOD’s image. We are sick of listening to politics being preached from the pulpit.
The priest said there have been attacks on the church/destruction of statues, etc. and proceeded to say he wasn’t choosing one political party over another. Except, that is exactly what he proceeded to preach. He said,”The party in power defends the church in God’s rights with straight lines and the other party has crooked lines who defends people who do violence.” He said, “Some people don’t like the existing party, but that all Catholics are called to protect the church.”
We didn’t hear a word when Trump attacked immigrants, caged & separated babies from their mothers, nor about Trump and GOP filing a lawsuit to take away healthcare from millions, nor does he ever attend church, but does hold up the Bible for a phony political prop, after he ordered the beating/gassing of peaceful protestors-NOT a word from the pulpit.
Where was this priest when neo-Nazis carried torches, yelling hateful speech, or drove a car into a peaceful crowd & killed a woman, or when Trump attacks freedoms under our democracy, calls the media the enemy of the people because they hold politicians accountable to do & speak truth to power, or when Trump paid off strippers, or he grabs women by their privates, or lied to Americans that he didn’t have any business interests in Russia when he did & was trying for a new hotel, or when Trump pretends he is against abortion while many Republicans, including the past head of the RNC got caught paying off a woman to have an abortion, or Trump & his associates or friends, like Epstein, abused& trafficked in young girls.
So, do NOT preach to Americans to support a person who is so far away from the teachings of GOD, immoral and NOT in the IMAGE OF THE LORD.
Did it ever dawn on Evangelicals/Catholics/protestant religions that the neo-Nazi hateful white nationalists are doing all this evil destruction against statues to get stupid Catholics riled up against Biden?
There was none of this hateful violence under Pres Clinton, Pres. Obama, but you are willing to accept it under Trump because he is passing legislation/policies that allow religions to get even more involved in politics. Our founding fathers saw this to be a problem which is why there is a separation of church and state.
It is everyone’s freedom to believe in the religion and their beliefs as they wish, NOT for a religion to demand that all people have to have their beliefs or they will go to hell.That is NOT what freedom is in a democracy. That is a dictator/authoritarian state as in Russia, China, Hungary, etc.
It hard to sale God’s teachings when the Catholic faith is standing behind Trump and all his evil. We don’t believe in abortion, but we don’t believe in such an immoral president.
So, STOP preaching for Americans to support TRUMP, a false GOD and please do preach Jesus’ teachings.
Mr. Dawson ,
It’s still mostly a free country and free speech is important, so you have every right to a bit of political preaching yourself on a Catholic site.
🙂
We are trying to attract people to come to the Catholic faith, but when we listen to political sermons at Sunday mass on TV basically ordering people to follow and stand behind Trump who does not behave or is in the image of GOD, we are getting disgusted with our faith. We have pre-existing conditions & have not been at any gatherings, including church, but we do not miss it on TV.
We are horrified at Catholic statues being destroyed, but even more horrified at listening to the priest serving mass from Alabama- 8A.M. Sunday Aug 2, 2020. As we watched him encouraging parishioners from the pulpit to vote for Trump. Trump is NOT in GOD’s image. We are sick of listening to politics being preached from the pulpit.
The priest said there have been attacks on the church/destruction of statues, etc. and proceeded to say he wasn’t choosing one political party over another. Except, that is exactly what he proceeded to preach. He said,”The party in power defends the church in God’s rights with straight lines and the other party has crooked lines who defends people who do violence.” He said, “Some people don’t like the existing party, but that all Catholics are called to protect the church.”
We didn’t hear a word when Trump attacked immigrants, caged & separated babies from their mothers, nor about Trump and GOP filing a lawsuit to take away healthcare from millions, nor does he ever attend church, but does hold up the Bible for a phony political prop, after he ordered the beating/gassing of peaceful protestors-NOT a word from the pulpit.
Where was this priest when neo-Nazis carried torches, yelling hateful speech, or drove a car into a peaceful crowd & killed a woman, or when Trump attacks freedoms under our democracy, calls the media the enemy of the people because they hold politicians accountable to do & speak truth to power, or when Trump paid off strippers, or he grabs women by their privates, or lied to Americans that he didn’t have any business interests in Russia when he did & was trying for a new hotel, or when Trump pretends he is against abortion while many Republicans, including the past head of the RNC got caught paying off a woman to have an abortion, or Trump & his associates or friends, like Epstein, abused& trafficked in young girls.
So, do NOT preach to Americans to support a person who is so far away from the teachings of GOD, immoral and NOT in the IMAGE OF THE LORD.
Did it ever dawn on Evangelicals/Catholics/protestant religions that the neo-Nazi hateful white nationalists are doing all this evil destruction against statues to get stupid Catholics riled up against Biden?
There was none of this hateful violence under Pres Clinton, Pres. Obama, but you are willing to accept it under Trump because he is passing legislation/policies that allow religions to get even more involved in politics. Our founding fathers saw this to be a problem which is why there is a separation of church and state.
It is everyone’s freedom to believe in the religion and their beliefs as they wish, NOT for a religion to demand that all people have to have their beliefs or they will go to hell.That is NOT what freedom is in a democracy. That is a dictator/authoritarian state as in Russia, China, Hungary, etc.
It hard to sale God’s teachings when the Catholic faith is standing behind Trump and all his evil. We don’t believe in abortion, but we don’t believe in such an immoral president.
So, STOP preaching for Americans to support TRUMP, a false GOD and please do preach Jesus’ teachings.
Mr. Dawson ,
It’s still mostly a free country and free speech is important, so you have every right to a bit of political preaching yourself on a Catholic site.
🙂