Hometown Hero: Mother's Milk Bank of North Texas

Fragile babies need breast milk. Formula doesn't give them the nutrition they need but the Mother's Milk Bank of North Texas does. For 14 years, 10,000 nursing moms have passed screening and donated their breast milk instead of pouring it down the drain.

The Fort Worth non-profit keeps the milk pasteurized and safe and ships it to 100 hospitals, 60 of which are in Texas. The milk is in 20, 24 or 26 calorie ounces depending on what the hospital NICU requires each week. This is a life-saving gift for babies born pre-maturely or full-term babies born with complications. Once donor moms pass the screening process they simply put their milk in freezer bags and take it to one of 43 donor sites. From there it's shipped to Mother's Milk Bank of North Texas for processing and distribution.

The Junior League of Fort Worth gave the Mother's Milk Bank a $100,000 gift from it's Christmas in Cowtown holiday gift market. By shopping for a great cause, the Junior League was able to write that six figure check which is helping the Mother's Milk Bank of North Texas move into a new building that will triple it's size.

Christmas In Cowtown will benefit 9 Tarrant County non-profits. Get ready to shop til you drop for great causes from October 11-14 at the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum in Fort Worth. FOX4 is a proud sponsor of Christmas In Cowtown. Find all the info at www.christmasincowtown.com.

Nursing moms who'd like to be screened to donate their breast milk can contact www.texasmilkbank.org or call 817.810.0071.