When Danielle Palmer’s son Truett was born with a congenital heart defect, the St. Louis area mom said she prayed that beauty would come from the terrible situation.
Six months later, she’s finally seeing a ray of sunshine from the storm.
Palmer, 31, just donated a surplus of her saved breast milk — 1,040 ounces, or about about 346 feedings worth — to families affected by Hurricane Harvey.
“The first month of [Truett’s] life, he was unable to eat,” the mom of three explained to TODAY. “All the milk I was pumping was going into the freezer.” She continued to pump and save the milk during all of her son's surgeries — about eight, to date.
Palmer had donated some of her supply to another mom in the area, so it wasn’t a secret she had extra milk. Her son’s speech therapist Nicole Edwin is part of an organization called Guiding Star Mid-Missouri, a women's support group, which was seeking donations after the hurricane. Edwin reached out to Palmer knowing she had an oversupply.
“I was excited,” Palmer said. “I had this large stash and knew I could share that with someone.”
She said seeing the news and devastation of the hurricane had made her emotional about the families who were affected, and knowing some had lost their stashes of milk and pumps was hard. “The least I can do is give back to someone in need."
Along with the breast milk, Palmer also donated formula and bottles of water, among other things. She said she hoped this story would help normalize breastfeeding, but also noted that it’s important not to discredit moms who can’t or choose not to breastfeed.
The breast milk was transported to Dallas on a freezer in a trailer, and Palmer said she just got word that it made it there safely, still frozen and in good condition.
“I’m overjoyed that I can help,” she said.
For more ways to help Hurricane Harvey victims, check out our "Helping After Harvey" efforts.