A Bottle for Michael

Her tears have long since run dry, but little Michael’s never seem to end.
The infant’s cry pierces the night, the healthy, sweet wails of a beautiful baby. Like any seven-month-old, Michael wakes up in the middle of the night wanting to eat.
Rina had hoped that he might skip this feeding; she’d whispered a silent prayer that he’d sleep through the night. But Baby Michael has other plans. His little tummy is empty. He’s hungry, and he wants a bottle right now.
In the stillness of the night, a crushing sense of helplessness settles over her. Her son’s screams merge with her own silent sobs.
She isn’t crying the way most mothers do—out of sheer exhaustion or the dread of being bleary-eyed at work tomorrow. She isn’t even crying because she’s still a fresh widow, and the initial wave of community support has already begun to dissipate.
She’s crying because the last can of baby formula is almost empty. There’s exactly one serving left. One. And according to Rina’s desperate calculations, that meal was meant for tomorrow morning.
Michael’s always hungry in the morning—exactly the way an adorable seven-month-old should be. There’s no way she can skip that first meal at the crack of dawn. But now, Rina faces an impossible choice:
Feed him now, or feed him later?
How do I choose???
Only someone who’s felt the hollow void of poverty and lack can truly understand Rina’s agony. Her husband passed away several months earlier, leaving her to raise her thriving, chubby-cheeked boy alone. At first, neighbors and family were there for her. But after several weeks, other tragedies struck the headlines, and Rina and her baby were simply forgotten.

Meirim Lachaim didn’t forget.
Like Michael’s mother, there are many women who struggle with the challenges of single parenthood. The skyrocketing cost of living has made even the basics—like baby formula—an unreachable luxury for some.
Is there anything more heart-wrenching than the cry of a hungry baby?
Meirim Lachaim knows the names and addresses of many of these women, and we do our utmost to prevent these tragic scenes. Our Infant Essentials program distributes baby formula to single-parent homes every week, and our coordinators ensure that no mother should ever have to ration her baby’s meals again.