Eastern Carolina health system offers free baby formula

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Health organizations in Eastern Carolina are helping to address the baby formula shortage plaguing the state.

StarMed Healthcare hosted a free baby formula giveaway Thursday outside of the Christian Life Fellowship Center in Onslow County.

With baby formula supply still lacking, residents expressed that the giveaway couldn’t have come at a better time.

“It’s my granddaughter who’s getting ready to deliver,” Onslow County resident Janice Lewis said. “We were afraid that she couldn’t get it.”

Lewis said she got a mobile text alert about the health system’s free baby formula giveaway.

“We have eight different kinds of formula and pretty much, we’ve gone down the line. Everyone can pick... we have a certain amount, so they all got tickets of what formula they want and they’ll come up, pick out their formula and then be on their way,” Megan Messineo, StarMed Healthcare practice manager said.

The system supplied the community with more than 130 cans and bottles of plant-based toddler formula, including Good Start’s soothepro, gentle soy, gentle pro, and lactose-free formula, along with even more options for families to choose from.

“It’s a big deal. I understand as a mom that this is a scary time so the fact that we can do this is something really important,” Messineo said.

StarMed Healthcare said it had lactation consultants on-site to help talk through some of the different formula options with mothers and families of mothers.

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