Jets' wives and girlfriends donate $9,500 in formula to Winnipeg Harvest

The wives and girlfriends of the Winnipeg Jets have donated thousands of dollars of baby formula to Manitoba's largest food bank.

They presented Winnipeg Harvest with about $9,500 worth of canned baby formula on Monday, after raising the money by signing Christmas ornaments at a recent home game.

"We're obviously really happy," said Emily Byfuglien, who made the donation with Sam Wheeler. "We're both moms so we kind of get, we want to help any kids in need, so we're super excited we can send out that much formula."

The pair said they discovered last year that formula was one of the things Winnipeg Harvest rarely sees donated due to its price.

"It opened our eyes, I guess, to see that's what they need, and being moms, I couldn't imagine not being able to feed my kids, so it made it extra important and extra special to be able to do," said Wheeler.

Winnipeg Harvest executive director Kate Brenner said the formula will help the 1,600 infants they feed every month.

"Without proper nutrition, these kids aren't getting the right start to life they need in order to grow up to be healthy people," she said. "So this is tremendously impactful.

"We distribute formula in the city first. If we have enough, then we'll distribute farther afield, up to Churchill and places like that when we have the formula. So what the Jets' wives and girlfriends have done here and through their efforts is they've allowed us to have a little bit of a cushion so we can maybe go a little further than we have before."

The formula will be distributed immediately throughout the week, said Brenner.

"It comes in the door, it goes out the door, because it's so much in demand and we know that it's very important to the kids who need it, the babies."

It's always in the food bank's top 10 list of needed items, Brenner said.

"Most of the other food is donated, but this one we do have to buy, although we do get a break on the price, it's never free," she said.

"One tin of that feeds one infant for one week, so you can imagine how much we need to feed all these 1,600 babies every month."