Donor human milk bank ready for expansion

ELK GROVE VILLAGE – Mothers’ Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes is preparing for a significant expansion with the recent purchase of a 15,000-square-foot building in Elk Grove Village.

Renovation of 560 Bonnie Lane is scheduled to start this month with completion targeted for fall 2024.

Milk Bank WGL operates an infant nutrition organization within the nation’s largest industrial park, combining food processing with public health through an innovative, multidisciplinary approach.

“This expansion is essential. Demand for donor milk increases 20% to 30% annually,” Executive Director Summer Kelly said in a news release. “The new building will more than double our space and will include a state-of-the-art lab that will accommodate the processing of thousands of ounces of milk each day.”

In addition to the development of a highly efficient research and processing laboratory, the organization will be increasing office space, adding a community gathering room and expanding the existing bereavement milk donation memorial.

Program manager Susan Urbanski has worked at the milk bank since it opened in 2015.

“In addition to increased utilization within hospitals, the use of donor milk for pediatric patients at home has more than tripled since 2020,” she said.

Donor milk provides numerous benefits, including antibodies and growth hormones. For some such as premature infants in neonatal intensive care units, donor milk helps to prevent necrotizing enterocolitis, a dangerous and potentially life-threatening disease.

“As a nonprofit organization, we have the opportunity to adapt our services based on the needs of our communities,” relationship manager Jinnie Hoggarth said. “The milk bank’s role in public health is essential. For example, the infant formula shortage in 2022 highlighted how crucial human milk is for many families.”

Milk donations are collected from healthy, lactating parents who are screened and approved as donors. Upon collection, donations are transported to the milk bank’s processing facility where they are pasteurized to eliminate viruses and bacteria. The pasteurized milk is tested and distributed to hospitals and outpatients in Illinois and Wisconsin.

“Since I joined the staff in 2016, our team has processed over 3 million ounces of donor milk,” plant manager Jose Zepeda said. “We are constantly receiving requests from hospitals and outpatients and my team works tirelessly to make sure we can always have milk on hand to fulfill these requests.”

The milk bank has been leasing space at 1691 Elmhurst Road since its inception in 2015. Families can continue to access milk bank services without interruption between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For more information, visit milkbankwgl.org.