#austin_tx

"Silicon City"

Back in January, my friend Megan and I had the privilege of attending an installation at the Long Center for Performing Arts by Architects of Art called a “Luminaria”, a “monumental inflatable structures designed to generate a sense of wonder at the beauty of light and colour.” In this unique installation, you enter into a world of color and sound. Constructed out of a special pvc material, the “Luminaria” allows 4 primary colors through and is made up of pods, influenced by Arabic architecture, that allows one to sit quietly and meditate on being engulf in a variety of hues and saturation. Inside the “Luminaria” it is at once soothing and aw inspiring. One soon forgets about time and the very existence of the outside world.

In “Silicon City” you see the outside of the “Luminaria” set against the back drop of Austin, TX, my home town. When I moved to Austin, some 20 years ago, the city was known as “The Live Music Capital of the World” throughout the 90′s as technology took hold we became known as “Silicon Hills”. Austin is a vibrant city of tech, second only to Silicon Valley with the amount of hackers, code ninja’s, start-up’s and tech industry that calls Austin home.

There is so much going on in Austin that we had to be there for a day and a half.  We pulled into Texas WIC headquarters in the late afternoon and spent time with two of Texas’s many breastfeeding rockstars.  Man, they have an incredible organization with wonderful resources and support for their mothers.  There were a few brochures that blew my mind, both in terms of content and presentation.  A lot to learn from them! The next day, we had a wonderful event coordinated by the Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin.  There was great turnout of moms and organizations … and media!  Not only did we have local news, we also were broadcast live on air on the area's largest Spanish-speaking radio station -- very cool! 

After a great event, we headed back to the Milk Bank for lunch, interviews and a tour.  It was a real honor and privilege to not only go on a tour of the space, but actually watch specific steps in the process.  One thing is perfectly clear, HMBANA milk banks go through a very rigorous process to make sure that the milk that comes out of their banks has been thoroughly tested and is safe.  I was surprised to learn that they go so far as knowing how many calories are in the different milk, so that they can offer milk with different levels for babies with different calorie needs.  In addition to interviewing people who work with the milk bank, we interviewed a mother whose child receives the milk.  I can say on her behalf, thank you to anyone who has donated milk -- it’s really a precious gift to provide another mother.  If you have extra milk in your freezer, there are plenty of milk banks that could desperately use it in order to meet the high demand for breast milk!

Austin is the next stop for the Big Pink Bus, and the crew will be spending the morning beneath the pecan trees in Zilker Park before heading to Mothers' Milk Bank for more fun. Join us at the event!

Highlights of the Austin stop include ...

Zilker Park's Pecan Grove is the perfect place to stay out of the heat and connect with some of Austin's biggest breastfeeding supporters and moms. Join us from 10 am to 12 noon!

The Latch On America Documentary Crew will have a full afternoon of touring the Mothers' Milk Bank and talking to everyone who makes this great facility work to help moms and families who want to give their babies breastmilk. We'll also be talking to Laurie Beck, president of United States Lactation Consultants Association, about providing moms with better access to IBCLC services, and Julie Stagg with the Health Research and Program Development Unit of the Department of State Health Services, about her insight into monitoring breastfeeding rates, the Texas Ten Step Program, and more!

We're honored and thrilled by all the hard work that's gone into the Austin stop -- so don't miss it!