LEAWOOD, Kan. — While the current baby formula shortage is causing mothers in the Kansas City area to fear they will be unable to feed their babies, it sparked an idea for one mother of two to help others in her situation.
"I love being a mom, it’s what keeps me going, it gives me my why,” said Alexis Harris, owner of Leawood Nutrition.
Harris says it's not easy being self-employed at Leawood Nutrition, especially with her 8-month-old daughter Violet on her hip.
“When she was a newborn, I had her where she sits, you know the backpacks, I had that, and she would sit in there and I would make shakes and teas,” Harris said.
Juggling her business and parenting, Harris worries about feeding her baby during this formula shortage.
“There’s been times, like a couple days ago, when I went to Target for formula, and the shelves were wiped out,” she said. ”Oh my gosh. I am down to one formula, what do I do?”
As a mother, Harris knew she wasn’t the only one struggling and felt compelled to create a solution.
“I want to make an impact on helping moms get the formula they need and not struggle because I know how that is,” Harris said.
Setting up shelves inside her business with the help of other moms and donations from the community, Harris is hopeful they will soon be full to fill the need.
“They can go to the store. If they see any sort of formula, like liquid formula, like literally anything, bring it and we will help and get it to that mom,” she said.
Harris is now accepting donations of nonexpired baby formula.
"I was like frantic, and I went to like two different stores, called four different Price Choppers and they were all out of stock. And these were in the city, at that," Sutton said. "I finally had to drive 30 miles south out of my way from where I live to go get formula."
She simply wants to make sure every baby has what they need, something Sutton says she greatly appreciates.
“They are defenseless, they need us to help them and moms who aren’t able to breastfeed don’t have an option. Needing to be able to feed their babies is very important,” Sutton said.
For more information on how to donate and where to pick up donated items, visit Leawood Nutrition's Instagram page.
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