PHILADELPHIA -- Karah Weiser was about to trudge on to yet another store in search of the specialty hypoallergenic baby formula her 4-month-old needs. But first she paused, took another look at the half-empty store display, and snapped a picture.
“Boothwyn Walmart,” the 32-year-old Drexel Hill mother wrote alongside the photo she uploaded to a Facebook group she created to help caregivers track down infant formula.
A nationwide infant formula shortage has made families into scavengers, searching the internet and driving miles in search of a can of the powder or concentrate liquid to feed their child one more day. Whether by choice or necessity, families that use formula often feel isolated and ostracized for not feeding their baby breast milk, and the shortage has added exponentially to that guilt and stress. Still, Philadelphia-area families have been banding together to help each other get the food — and support — they need.
