An anguished call from a Los Gatos pediatrician about a malnourished infant in late 1974 spurred Teresa Asquith into action and brought Mothers’ Milk Bank California into reality.
The group, which has distributed 16 million ounces of human donor milk to at-risk babies since then, honored Asquith as it celebrated its 50th anniversary this month at the Janet Gray Hayes Rotunda at San Jose City Hall.
Asquith had been working as a transplant technician at the Institute for Medical Research at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center when she got the call. A nine-month old child in Los Gatos could only drink fresh mother’s milk, but his mother couldn’t provide it. The family had received donations on a day-to-day basis from La Leche League in Santa Cruz, but the supply was running low.
“Drawing upon the resources at my disposal and rallying local milk donors to our cause, we mounted a response that would prove to be life-saving,” Asquith said in a blog post about Mothers’ Milk Bank’s creation.
The Institute for Medical Research had already been working toward the creation of the milk bank, having saved a child’s life with milk donations earlier in the year, but — according to a Mercury News article at the time — it needed $20,000 to establish it on a permanent basis. Only $2,750 had been raised, all from the Lockheed Buck-of-the-Month Club.
That previous January, a Valley Medical Center spokesman was quoted in an article saying officials had considered and rejected the idea of creating a permanent milk bank.
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“Setting up and maintaining the bank would be very complicated and, besides, mother’s milk is very seldom needed,” said the unnamed spokesman (probably thankful to have remained unnamed 40 years later). Fortunately, Asquith and others managed to get past that thinking.
“As we celebrate our 50th anniversary, we reflect on the incredible journey of saving lives and supporting families,” Mothers’ Milk Bank California CEO Jennifer Benito said. We are excited to continue our mission and expand our reach to ensure that every baby in need has access to safe donor milk.”
If you want to be part of that mission — whether it’s joining the 25,000 mothers’ milk donors or the countless more who donate funds — you can find out more at camilkbank.org.
COUNTY SHINES A LIGHT: If you were near the Santa Clara County Government Center on Hedding Street last Wednesday night, you might have wondered why the building was illuminated in green. It’s because the county’s headquarters were among more than 100 landmarks and bridges that were part of the #LightUp4PANS campaign to draw attention to two little-known conditions that afflict young people.
World PANS/PANDAS Awareness Day isn’t about cookware or cute animals but Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) and Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). These life-altering conditions — triggered by infections such as strep throat and the flu — affect thousands around the world and can cause sudden, severe changes in behavior and neurological function.
San Jose resident Terry Downing’s adolescent daughter was stricken by the condition in 2011 and she said that a misdiagnosis for 10 months delayed care that could have saved her from brain damage and life in a group home.
“A lot of progress has been made since then and we have a long way to go,” she said during last week’s Board of Supervisors meeting about efforts to bring awareness to the issue. She said she hopes AB 2105 — passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Newsom last month — would make early diagnosis and treatment possible and save families from the trauma hers has gone through.
PARTY TIME: Block Party season in downtown San Jose wraps up this week with one more Urban Vibrancy Institute event, which is expected to draw thousands of people to San Jose City Hall on Thursday. There’ll be food trucks and music between 5 and 9 p.m., and Santa Clara Street will be closed between Fourth and Sixth streets, so plan accordingly.
That’s not the only party happening downtown Thursday night, though. San Jose State alumni will be getting wild on campus for the 17th annual Fire on the Fountain homecoming event, which starts at 5:30 p.m. and ends with the traditional blazing climax to get fans in a frenzy for Saturday afternoon’s homecoming game against Wyoming. You can get more info on the ticketed event at events.sjsu.edu.
