Meet our Recipients
Our community of dedicated milk donors plays a crucial role in supporting our mission. Each donor has a unique journey, a story that echoes the spirit of selflessness and care.
To contribute your story, please use this form.
I wanted to let you know that I am coming to an end in my pumping journey and will not be making any further donations. In my departure, I did want to take a moment to share with you the story of my daughter, Charlotte.
Charlotte was born unexpectedly, 4 months early, in September of last year. She weighed 1.5 lbs at birth and, as you can imagine, could not take on a real amount of breast milk for quite a while. My milk supply came in beautifully, and I was producing much more than she was possibly going to be able to eat. I quickly began filling freezers. One inside my house, one in my garage and two large commercial freezers in our NICU. It got to be so much that I was finally introduced to your organization. In what felt like a very helpless situation for my daughter, the one thing I could do and do really well was pump. I was grateful to be able to feed her and so grateful to be able to feed others. Charlotte lived in the NICU for 143 days. Just before discharge, she was diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer. I continued to pump as we moved through different hospitals and different hotels in other areas while we got the best treatment from my daughter. She received 6 rounds of chemo from January of this year to June, then got her life-saving liver transplant in July. She has been and still is immunocompromised, and my milk is one of the best things for her. She is now cancer-free and is 15 months old, 11 months adjusted. We are eternally grateful.
After 15 months of pumping, my milk supply is dwindling. I’ll use the rest of my freezer stash for her until we run out.
I thank you for making milk donation so easy. I carried a lot of “milk stress” until I found you.
This little superhero, Josiah Akheen Gonzales, is sharing his mama’s amazing “liquid gold” with tiny warriors in the NICU!
Irene is an incredible donor who has already donated three rounds of 800-900 oz of breast milk thanks to Mothers’ Milk Bank California!
Her dedication and generosity are truly inspiring. Every ounce helps nourish fragile babies and give them the best chance to thrive.
Are you a breastfeeding mama with extra milk? Consider joining Irene in making a difference! Visit mothersmilk.org to learn more about donating.
Cherish crushed her resolution to give back to her community in the most precious way possible – by donating 2,000 ounces of life-saving breast milk to Mothers’ Milk Bank California!
“Fun fact: Micro preemies like Karsyn can’t digest formula and need breast milk,” Cherish shares. “If mothers can’t produce it, that’s where donor milk comes in.”
Karsyn, a tiny hero who defied the odds, thrived thanks to the generosity of moms like Cherish, who chose to share their liquid gold. ✨
Cherish’s story is a powerful reminder that even the smallest gestures can make a world of difference. Let’s celebrate her dedication and commitment to helping vulnerable babies reach their full potential!
I am honored and thrilled that I am able to be a milk donor for Mothers’ Milk Bank California. I chose to donate breast milk because my son Landon was born prematurely due to preeclampsia. Landon was in the NICU for a month. When I found out I was pregnant, I thought I was going to be able to breastfeed right away, but because he was born early, I had to wait until he was ready to breastfeed. So I started pumping, and I quickly became an overproducer. While he was in the NICU I felt very fortunate that I could produce the amount of breast milk I did for my little preemie fighter, but I also witnessed other preemie moms struggling to provide breast milk to their preemie babies. The nurses taking care of Landon even told me that the amount of milk I was producing was amazing, considering having a premature baby can affect a mother’s milk supply. That is when I discovered Mothers’ Milk Bank California and how to become a donor. I wanted to be able to share the gift of my liquid to other NICU babies and moms in need. Since I am a nurse myself, I understand how important breast milk is for preemie babies. Thank you, Mothers’ Milk Bank California, for allowing me to become a donor and sharing my milk’s blessing with other NICU babies and their families. It has been a privilege.
As a first time mom, I have been very fortunate to be able to breastfeed. The thought of helping NICU babies who may not have had access to the nutrients in breast milk quickly made me happy to donate. I thought the process would be time consuming, when I quickly learned the entire program was a breeze. You’re walked through step by step and it was super easy. I felt that donating to the tiniest of humans in need was a calling that I was ready and chosen to do
Having a preemie baby for the second time, I am constantly reminded by nurses and doctors that the best I could do to help my little Mia while she is in the NICU is to pump 🍼 and be there for some kangaroo cuddles. With my first preemie, I knew about donor milk because my milk took a while to come in. My baby was born at 28 weeks, and for his first month in the NICU, we depended on donor milk. I was so thankful I promised I would give back if I ever had the opportunity to do the same. And ta-dah 5 years later, my little Mia was born; this time, I was able to build a stash from the beginning as she had to be sedated due to surgery got . So, for two weeks, she wasn’t getting any milk, and I was able to pump around the clock; my body overunderstood the assignment and gave me an overproduction. The lactation consultant in the NICU noticed my overproduction and talked to me about helping other babies in the same situation as my baby. Right away, I said, “Of course! I would love to give back!” So I got in contact with MMB, and now here we are, 2500+oz in donations and more to come.
I want to also thank you all for working hard to give to other babies because I was once on the other side receiving milk for my other baby, and it was all thanks to milk banks like yours.
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