On October 10, 2019 BreastfeedLA celebrated its 25th anniversary with a special masquerade gala at Pickwick Gardens in Burbank. More than 200 people representing various professions, backgrounds, and from many different communities across LA gathered to honor the work of BreastfeedLA. The evening was a joyful celebration of breastfeeding, and a wonderful fundraiser, raising over $40,000 to support BreastfeedLA!
The event was warmly hosted by Master of Ceremonies Annet Mahendru, actress, mother, breastfeeding advocate as she shared her personal breastfeeding story and her passion for BreastfeedLA’s mission.
The program was led by President of the Board, Carmen Rezak, who highlighted BreastfeedLA’s past accomplishments and history of commitment. Executive Director, Arissa Palmer, then shared the organization’s current work and goals. The highlighted projects reflect a continued focus on breastfeeding equity such as increasing scholarship opportunities for women of color to take Lactation Consultant prep courses, and on improving breastfeeding rates and experiences for patients and families of color through technical assistance to LA-area hospitals, including bias and paid family leave training.
Shifting to the more personal voices within the BreastfeedLA story, Tanya Reyes spoke about her experience as a breastfeeding mother and former 
LAUSD teacher who experienced discrimination and how BreastfeedLA advocated on her behalf with the school district. She was followed by Brandi Jordan, IBCLC and founder of the National Association of Birth Workers of Color who shared her personal experience of discrimination and birth violence in hospitals. Brandi teaches the BreastfeedLA lactation course designed to train women of color and passionately led the call for support so BreastfeedLA can continue to change the landscape of birth and breastfeeding for LA families. Finally, a special video presentation was shown honoring the Founders of BreastfeedLA, a group of mighty women dedicated to changing their communities.
It was a magical night with so many beautiful and creative masks worn by all! There was wonderful musical entertainment performed by PWR CPL and Burbank High School’s Gentlemen’s Octet along with a photo booth, wine pull, raffle, and silent auction. Special areas in the room were devoted to the Photo Voice Project of the Asian Breastfeeding Task Force, depicting the beautiful normalcy of Asian women breastfeeding, a project BreastfeedLA hopes to expand. A timeline of BreastfeedLA’s victories over the past 25 years was displayed, giving all a very clear idea of the organization’s past, present, and future. It was an evening of great celebration, meaningful consideration of the current work, and a collective, ecstatic commitment to the years ahead: We can do it!
BreastfeedLA wishes to thank all those who came out to celebrate and raise money for this vital work. Thank you! And a special thanks to our Crystal Sponsors and to Denise Parker and Joan Ortiz, our fundraising chairs extraordinaire. Not able to make it but don’t want to miss out on the fun? See photos of the event HERE and please, DONATE HERE. We value every single donation and every bit of support!