San Diego Latch On Event 2023 - WHO'S READY???

Are you ready to find out the details for the

San Diego Latch On 2023?

Celebrate World Chest/Breastfeeding Week with us at the San Diego Latch On event! Join the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation, and our amazing sponsors - First 5 San Diego, Kindred Bravely, Baby Tula, Little Star Dentistry, and UCSD Extended Studies, in a fun-filled event for the whole family!  This year’s event will be in Allied Garden Recreation Park . While you wait for the actual Latch On to occur (at 10:30a), you can set up a picnic, hang out in the playground, peruse the vendor booths (you won’t want to miss these!), check out the Babywearing Demo and Parent/Me Yoga, and bid on our awesome auction items!

The first 100 attendees to check in will get a free tote bag with goodies, samples and resource materials from our local partners!

The San Diego Latch On event serves as one of our major fundraisers for our non-profit organization, the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation. San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation believes it is our duty as birth and perinatal workers to provide equal access to lactation support, regardless of economic status or ethnicity. But we know there is still racial and economic disparity with regards to access and representation in both lactation support and other crucial pre/postpartum healthcare.

That is why our Foundation provides free/low-cost lactation support to our community members who identify as low-income or BIPOC, and offer scholarships to BIPOC individuals seeking to become Lactation Professionals.

FAQs

When is the San Diego Latch On?

The San Diego Latch On event will take place on Saturday, August 5, 2023 from 9a-11a.  The actual Latch On (children latching on to set a local record) will take place at exactly 10:30am, so don’t be late!  

Where will the San Diego Latch On take place?

Allied Gardens Recreation Center Park - 5155 Greenbrier Ave, San Diego, CA 92120

Is there a charge to participate?

Not at all!  This event is totally FREE!

Can I bring my family or is this just for chest/breastfeeding parents and child/ren?

This is a totally family-friendly event! There will be plenty of things to keep older children entertained, so bring them all!

Where can I find more information?

Our Eventbrite page will have all of the most updated details, such as info about T-shirts, goodie bag swag, and the auction!

Do I need to register?

Yes, please!

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Wondering how you and your business can get involved?

Since the San Diego Latch On event is a major fundraiser for our nonprofit organization, the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation, heavily relies on event sponsors and auction donations.  If you are interested in becoming a sponsor or have a service/item to donate for our auction, please send an email to Brie Weigandt, Fundraising and Community Outreach Coordinator, at bweigandt@sdbfcfoundation.org

Get Ready for San Diego’s Biggest Lactation Event of the Year!

Model Call for Family Photo Shoot

SDBFC and SDBFC Foundation are hosting a professional photo shoot in a few weeks and are looking for 10 parents/babies of varying ages to participate.  The photographer will be taking breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding photos, so you are still welcome to apply even if you are not nursing at this time.  

These photos will be used by the San Diego Breastfeeding Center and the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation (our nonprofit) on our website, social media, and marketing materials.  Our goal is to show the diversity of families in our community.   As a 'thank you' for participating, each family will receive 5 digital images that your can print on your own.

If you are interested, here are the details:

Date: Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Time and Location:

12:30-1:30p Southeast Clinic with Chardá (704 Euclid Ave, San Diego, 92114)

2p-3p SD Community Birth Center with Jarrah Foster (2801 Fourth Ave, San Diego, 92103)

4p-6p San Diego Breastfeeding Center with SDBFC Staff (8325 University Ave. La Mesa, 91942)

Requirements: Each family must sign a photo release form prior to the photo shoot, giving SDBFC and SDBFC Foundation permission to use any of the photos on our websites, social media, and marketing materials.

If interested, please send an email to info@sdbfc.com by May 16, 2023. Include:

• Your name

• Phone number

• Age of your baby

• A photo of you, your partner (if he/she would like to be photographed, as well), and your baby.  This can totally be a photo from your phone....doesn't have to be professional!.  

• Indicate while clinic photo shoot you would like to attend

• Indicate whether you are comfortable being photographed while breastfeeding.  Not all photos will be of breastfeeding families, so it is still possible to participate even if you have already weaned or your baby is not breastfeeding at this time :-) 

Once we know who is interested, we will choose 10 families based on infant's age.  We are hoping for a nice variety of age groups! We will be contacting chosen participants by May 19, 2023.

FIRST LOOK AT THE NEW SDBFCF CLINIC IN SOUTHEAST SAN DIEGO!

Last week we celebrated a MAJOR MILESTONE as part of our Foundation’s Three Year Strategic Growth Plan! In an effort to INCREASE ACCESS to equitable and affordable lactation support in San Diego’s “first food deserts,” it has been our mission to expand our services to Southeast San Diego. On Tuesday December 13th, we did just that!! We welcomed friends, colleagues and community members into our newest Foundation clinic space in Southeast San Diego during a lovely open house! Located inside Access Youth Academy and led by the incredible Chardá Bell, IBCLC, CBE, CD, this clinic will offer a FREE weekly chest/breastfeeding support group that starts on Jan. 3rd, 2023 and, starting in February 2023, FREE or low-cost private lactation consultations!

Here are some thoughts from Chardá:

“Last year I wrote about how Black families, particularly in Southeast San Diego, often do not have access to breastfeeding support when they are struggling with challenges. Well thanks to some major work in the community, things have changed. In a collaborative effort, the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation and Global Communities have now created a weekly breastfeeding support group to fill this gap and reduce disparities through increased ease of access. But that’s not the best part, keep reading!

“Healthy Start contracts with the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation to provide amazing FREE lactation consults to its participants and that individualized help is critical. Yet another thing that is just as important is being able to see someone else who looks like you doing the same thing, going through similar situations, so you don’t feel so alone and have the strength to continue. These parents didn’t have a place to go after/between consults where they felt comfortable to share with other peers the struggles and joys of breastfeeding while Black. These struggles are unique barriers experienced most frequently among Black women and are reported to include but not limited to: lack of social, work, and cultural acceptance, language and literacy barriers for our Black diverse populations, and overall lack of access to information that promotes and supports breastfeeding, acculturation, and lifestyle choices. 

Not to mention the disincentive to breastfeed due to the disproportionate rate of infant formula distribution to Black mothers in the hospitals. 

“My goal has always been to get a support group in my hometown of Southeast San Diego, a mid-size area of the county, that is predominantly African American, low income to upper middle class, with some military families. I’m proud to be assisting in the opening of the first breastfeeding support clinic in Southeast San Diego; through steady exposure, easy access to support, and most importantly free support available to those who need it most. These resources will empower Black families and make chest/breastfeeding a traditional norm again. By improving chest/breastfeeding rates within the Black community, we will be achieving better overall health and well-being while reducing racial inequities for our entire community.”

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THIS IS THE WORK we are so excited to be a part of, and it truly wouldn’t be possible without the consistent grassroots support we receive every year from YOU, our community members! If you’re as excited about this clinic as we are - NOW IS THE TIME to help us! Let’s ride this momentum all the way to our $15,000 end of year goal!

San Diego Latch On Event 2022 - WHO'S READY???

Are you ready to find out the details for the San Diego Latch On 2022?

Celebrate World Chest/Breastfeeding Week with us at the San Diego Latch On event! Join the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation, and our amazing sponsors - Kindred Bravely, Solly Baby, Baby Tula, Little Star Dentistry, and Impact Partners, in a fun-filled event for the whole family!  This year’s event will be in Allied Garden Recreation Park . While you wait for the actual Latch On to occur (at 10:30a), you can set up a picnic, hang out in the playground, peruse the vendor booths (you won’t want to miss these!), and bid on our awesome auction items!

The first 100 attendees to check in will get a free tote bag with goodies, samples and resource materials from our local partners!

The San Diego Latch On event serves as one of our major fundraisers for our non-profit organization, the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation. San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation believes it is our duty as birth and perinatal workers to provide equal access to all regardless of their economic status or the color of their skin. But we know there is still racial and economic disparity of access and representation in both lactation support and other crucial pre/postpartum healthcare.

That is why our Foundation provides free or low-cost lactation support to our community members who identify as low-income or BIPOC, and offer scholarships to BIPOC individuals seeking to become Lactation Professionals.

Here are the preliminary details.  We will begin to share more about the event over the next few weeks!

When is the San Diego Latch On?

The San Diego Latch On event will take place on Saturday, August 6, 2022 from 9a-11a.  The actual Latch On (children latching on to set a local record) will take place at exactly 10:30am, so don’t be late!  

Where will the San Diego Latch On take place?

Allied Gardens Recreation Center Park - 5155 Greenbrier Ave, San Diego, CA 92120

Is there a charge to participate?

Not at all!  This event is totally FREE!

Can I bring my family or is this just for chest/breastfeeding parents and child/ren?

This is a totally family-friendly event! There will be plenty of things to keep older children entertained, so bring them all!

Do I need to register?

Yes, please!

---

Wondering how you and your business can get involved?

Since the San Diego Latch On event is a major fundraiser for our nonprofit organization, the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation, we rely heavily on event sponsors and auction donations.  If you are interested in becoming a sponsor or have a service/item to donate for our auction, please send an email to Brie Weigandt, Fundraising and Community Outreach Coordinator, at bweigandt@sdbfcfoundation.org

Get Ready for San Diego’s Biggest Lactation Event of the Year!

It's the final week to help us reach our goal of $15k!

Thank you to everyone who donated these past few weeks!  So far, you have helped us raise $6065 towards our $15,000 goal!  We are getting so close and our fundraiser ends on FRIDAY!

Did you know that you can make a recurring donation through our website? 

You can donate monthly, quarterly or annually, for as little as $5/month  Just set it and forget it!  Then all year long, you can help us provide free/reduced fee lactation services to 300 families in 2022, for essentially the cost of your Starbucks coffee! 

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You’ll be able to provide lactation access to families like Sabrina’s.

“I first began experiencing breastfeeding issues very early on.  The issues I experienced continued and escalated to the point that I would bleed with every feeding.  My 7 month long struggle with breastfeeding amplified these feelings of low self esteem. Soon due to the extreme pain, I began to experience nursing aversions. My daughter, unable to drink from a bottle, depended on me for survival. I reached my breaking point and found the SDBFC Foundation, hesitant to make an appointment due to the cost, until I saw the option for Medi-Cal families.

Nonprofits like SDBFC Foundation help break down systematic barriers that prevent Latinx and other BIPOC communities from successfully breastfeeding. They also allow lower-income parents to be able to provide an equitable childhood to their children beginning at infancy.  I am forever grateful!”

- Sabrina

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Our ability to help families like Sabrina’s is only possible with your help. Thank you so much for supporting our foundation!  Please consider making a recurring donation today!

Warmly,

Robin, San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation president

READ THIS BEFORE YOU SHOP ON AMAZON THIS 2021 HOLIDAY SEASON!

DID YOU KNOW….

• While 93% of parents start breastfeeding exclusively at birth in San Diego, only 56% continue doing so at 3 months, largely due to a lack of access and financial resources to ongoing lactation support.

• You can help low-income families and women of color gain access to critical breastfeeding support by purchasing Amazon items online, just by shopping through smile.amazon.com instead of amazon.com!

GUESS HOW EASY THIS IS???

We are asking you to take 60 seconds of your time today to designate the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation as your charitable recipient for Amazon Smile.  All you have to do is go to their website (smile.amazon.com) and choose the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation as your Amazon Smile recipient.  Then as you make your holiday purchases, as well as your staples of diapers, nipple cream, baby toys, book, etc, the SDBFC Foundation will receive 0.5% of every purchase, at no extra cost to you.  This money will go directly to paying for lactation consultations for families in need.  

You can also register in the APP!  Open the app and find ’Settings’ in the main menu (☰). Tap on ‘AmazonSmile’ and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile on your phone.

Your Amazon Smile purchases can help families, like Nohamaly’s, get the breast/chestfeeding support they deserve!

“The San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation saved my breastfeeding journey. I am very grateful to the lactation team for helping me in my journey! I would’ve quit breastfeeding if I did not make an appointment at the center. As a first time mom, I felt lost and did not know where to start, but I left my lactation appointment feeling confident about breastfeeding for the first time since my son was born. Also, the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation was able to offer me the rate of $25 for my appointment, which was extremely affordable. If I had to pay full price I probably wouldn’t have been able to see a lactation consultant.” - Nohamaly

Wishing you all the best during this giving season!

Our Fundraiser was a HUGE Success… all thanks to you!!!!

Our 2020 end-of-the year fundraiser was such a HUGE success and we cannot thank you enough for all of your support.  Our goal was to raise $10,000 between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve and we ended the fundraiser with donations totaling $13,015! 

We are truly humbled by our community’s support, which allows us to forge forward in 2021 to provide free and reduced-fee breastfeeding consultations for families with financial and/or racial barriers to receiving breastfeeding support. The recipients’ testimonials say it all…. these consultations were lifesavers!

So, what will your donations pay for this year?

• Over 150 free/reduced-fee breastfeeding consultations in 2021.  This covers over 50% of the consultations we plan to provide this year, so while our fundraising efforts never end, this gets us off to an amazing start in 2021!  

• $2,615 has been designated for our scholarship fund to support local BIPOC women to pursue a career in lactation!

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Each of our donors is incredibly important and imperative for funding our programs, which is why we like to share their names on our donor pages!  There also are a few donors we would like to personally thank today for their very generous donations this year.  These individuals and businesses donated $250 or more to our foundation in 2020:

The Schoenith Foundation

Audrey Conley & Gertrude & L.J. Whitaker Charitable Fund

Herwitz Law

Charity Dunphy

Robert and Patricia Dodson

Toshiko Umphrey

Stephen and Candice Kerner

Jack and Jennifer Einbinder

Kara Ballester

Andrew Eckblad

And a HUGE SHOUT OUT to our local anonymous donor who matched $3k during our fundraising campaign!

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Still want to donate?

You can make a one-time donation or a recurring monthly donation (which is one of our favorites!), through our website at any time!

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Thank you, from all of us at the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation!  You have truly made a difference in so many families’ lives and we so appreciate it!

Warmly,
Robin Kaplan

President, San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation

Will you help us dismantle racial bias in breastfeeding/chestfeeding support?

DID YOU KNOW?

• San Diego has pockets of ‘breastfeeding deserts’ where there is limited access to breastfeeding support groups and lactation consultants, specifically for low income families and families of color.

• Without access to breastfeeding support, these families stop breastfeeding sooner than they planned, negatively impacting the physical and emotional health of both the nursing parent and the baby. 

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Will you help us dismantle this racial bias and income discrimination?

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Your donations go directly to pay for lactation consultations for families, like Julia’s!

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We have raised $7920 this month. Can you help us reach our goal of $10,000?

Our ability to help families like Julia’s is only possible with your help. Thank you so much for supporting our foundation!

Warmly,
Robin Kaplan
President, San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation

We are matching funds up to $3000 this week!

We cannot begin to express how grateful we are to everyone who has donated to our fundraising campaign and shared about it with their friends and family!

So far, we have raised $3000 in the past 2 weeks.  This week, an anonymous donor has offered to match donations up to $3000 from 12/14 until 12/21, so your donation this week will be doubled!  Which means, we will be that much closer to our goal of raising $10,000 during the month of December!  Can we count on you to help us meet this goal?

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Meet Sabrina, a local mother who received low-cost breastfeeding consultations from the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation.

“I am a first generation, lower income, Latinx full-time college student. 

I battled a 7 month long struggle with breastfeeding.  I reached my breaking point and found the SDBFC Foundation, hesitant to make an appointment due to the cost, until I saw the option for Medi-Cal.  If I had to pay for the full price for an initial appointment, I doubt I would have made the appointment. This is not because I would not want to, but because I could not afford it. 

Through the SDBFC Foundation, my daughter and I were able to access the necessary services in order for her to receive the proper care and attention needed for her to survive and thrive. 

Nonprofits like these help break down systematic barriers that prevent Latinx and other BIPOC communities from successfully breastfeeding. They also allow lower-income parents to be able to provide an equitable childhood to their children beginning at infancy. I am forever grateful!”

-Sabrina

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Sabrina is one of the 200 families of color and low-income families that our foundation was able to assist this year, all due to your donations and those from our community!  We are 30% to our goal of raising $10,000.  Will you help us reach this goal?

Our ability to help families like Sabrina's is only possible with your help. Thank you so much for caring so deeply.

Warmly,

Robin Kaplan

President, SDBFC Foundation

READ THIS BEFORE YOU SHOP ON AMAZON THIS 2020 HOLIDAY SEASON!

DID YOU KNOW….

• While 93% of parents start breastfeeding exclusively at birth in San Diego, only 56% continue doing so at 3 months, largely due to a lack of access and financial resources to ongoing lactation support.

• You can help low-income families and women of color gain access to critical breastfeeding support by purchasing Amazon items online, just by shopping through smile.amazon.com instead of amazon.com!

GUESS HOW EASY THIS IS???

We are asking you to take 60 seconds of your time today to designate the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation as your charitable recipient for Amazon Smile.  All you have to do is go to their website (smile.amazon.com) and choose the San Diego Breastfeeding Center Foundation as your Amazon Smile recipient.  Then as you make your holiday purchases, as well as your staples of diapers, nipple cream, baby toys, book, etc, the SDBFC Foundation will receive 0.5% of every purchase, at no extra cost to you.  This money will go directly to paying for lactation consultations for families in need.

You can also do it in the APP! Open the app and find ’Settings’ in the main menu (☰). Tap on ‘AmazonSmile’ and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on AmazonSmile on your phone.

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Your Amazon Smile purchases can help families, like AnaKaren’s, get the breastfeeding/chestfeeding support they deserve!

“Breastfeeding was something I always knew I wanted to do, I just didn’t know how hard of a process it was going to be. When I had my baby girl I suffered from postpartum anxiety and pretty bad baby blues. Diana, like all babies, lost a lot of her birth weight and was not gaining it back as fast as she should’ve been. Breastfeeding my daughter had become a real struggle and with my postpartum anxiety I was at a loss. With limited income and a husband in school, it would’ve been very difficult to be seen at SDBFC without their affordable $25 appointment fee. Being able to afford the appointments made the difference between breastfeeding my baby and not breastfeeding. - AnaKaren”