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More than 170 people came to Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital on July 31 for its fourth annual World Breastfeeding Week drive-through celebration.
Jana Tomasini, a Hazel Hawkins registered nurse and lactation consultant, said, “Every year worldwide, World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated Aug. 1-7, so that’s why we always have some form of celebration.”
This year, the exhibition was held a little earlier to accommodate families whose children return to school in early August.
San Benito Blooming, WIC, San Benito County Safe Kids, Central California Alliance for Health and the San Benito County Free Library were among the organizations that participated in the event.
“Each agency is providing essential resources to families in the community, health education, and we’re also promoting breastfeeding,” Tomasini said. “We have more agencies involved this year, and the hospital foundation came up with even more funding for our free raffle items.”
In addition to providing informational resources, the hospital also raffled items such as high chairs, car seats, wellness baskets, diaper bags and more. At the end of the drive-through, Hazel Hawkins staff greeted attendees with gift bags and Dr. Ralph Armstrong’s famous lactation cookies.
Tomasini said she wants mothers in the community to know that they are not alone through the event.
“There is a community that supports them,” she said, “whether it’s at the beginning of their breastfeeding journey or later on, and they know they can tap into agencies in the community that can help them reach whatever family goal they have.”
Jeanette Cancino, a health educator for the WIC program, said it was her first year working the event.
“We’re participating to share more awareness about the resources we have available through WIC,” Cancino said. “We have been trying to increase our community engagement so we can get as many participants to engage in the program.”
She said the WIC program offers many benefits, including on-site lactation consultants, free lactation assessments, hospital-grade breast pumps, nursing broth, storage bags, health education for postpartum nutrition, and nutrition for children up to age 5.
“We do follow-ups every three months or so, monitoring children’s growth and providing food benefits as well,” she said.
Charlene Flores, a four-year attendee, said she loves the variety of resources available.
“Coming out each year,” she said, “there’s just more and more information out there, and even if it’s things that I don’t necessarily benefit from, there are so many things that people in the community can benefit from, so having that knowledge is always super helpful.”
The BenitoLink Internship Program is a paid, skill-building program that prepares local youth for a professional career. This program is supported by Monterey Peninsula Foundation AT&T Golf Tour and Taylor Farms.
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