In 2018 Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa, founder of the pro-life feminist organization New Wave Feminists started a campaign called Bottles to the Border. Destiny, who is a dear friend of mine, worked to raise over $9,000 to purchase bottles, diapers, formula, feminine products and other supplies. The statement she used to advertise this campaign was, “Our humanity doesn’t begin at birth and it doesn’t end at the border.” As a pro-life feminist her main concern is helping women and their families survive. It doesn’t matter if those are pregnant women seeking support to carry their children or immigrant mothers needing practical aid for their babies.

This year she’s doing it again but with more support from the pro-life movement. The second Bottles to the Border campaign started yesterday and already she’s raised $7,000! 25 Pro-Life organizations have joined in and Family Institute of Connecticut is one of them. We’re in good company with Abby Johnson’s And Then There Were None, Loyola Catholic Men’s Fellowship, Latino’s 4 Life, Mercy Missions, March for Life Mobile and more pro-life organizations. A flyer displaying the details for this campaign and our organization’s logos has this powerful statement:

“As a pro-life movement, we stand with the vulnerable and marginalized. On Saturday, July 13th, we will be showing up for our friends at the border in real ways. We will be taking mother and baby supplies, medicine, formula, nursing support, clothing, diapers, shoelaces, water, and anything else that they might need to make sure their families are being adequately supported and cared for in their time of need.”

You can give directly to this campaign and 100% of your donations will go towards getting supplies to families in need. The supplies will be taken directly to the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, TX where they receive more than 800 people a day and are in great need of supplies. It’s true that detainment centers are turning away donations, but the respite centers are where detainees go once they’re out and they are accepting donations. Donate here to give towards these needed supplies- https://www.newwavefeminists.com/support

In regards to immigrants in crisis the words Pope Francis spoke in 2013 are relevant to us today:

“Has any one of us wept because of this situation and others like it?” Has anyone of us grieved for the death of these brothers and sisters? Has anyone of us wept for these persons who were on the boat? For the young mothers carrying their babies? For these men who were looking for a means of supporting their families?

We are a society which has forgotten how to weep, how to experience compassion – “suffering with” others: the globalization of indifference has taken from us the ability to weep! In the Gospel, we have heard the crying, the wailing, the great lamentation: “Rachel weeps for her children… because they are no more”. Herod sowed death to protect his own comfort, his own soap bubble. And so it continues… Let us ask the Lord to remove the part of Herod that lurks in our hearts; let us ask the Lord for the grace to weep over our indifference, to weep over the cruelty of our world, of our own hearts, and of all those who in anonymity make social and economic decisions which open the door to tragic situations like this. “Has anyone wept?” Today has anyone wept in our world?

Here in Connecticut Bridgeport Bishop Frank J. Caggiano shared a similar message in a Facebook post. He wrote:

“The unfolding crisis on our border demands our immediate attention, prayers, and compassion. The reported condition of some children as young as 5 months old is deeply disturbing.

I know there are many people who are extremely passionate about the issue of immigration and have very different perspectives. I also recognize that some of my previous posts on immigration have raised sharp disagreement among those who read and responded to them. I also firmly believe that we are a nation of laws, and that we must abide by those laws to ensure our country’s safety and sustainability for all. But my friends, we cannot turn our backs while young people are suffering and at risk, regardless of who they are and where they have come from.

No child should sleep on a cement floor without a blanket. No child should lack basic necessities like soap or toothpaste, whether they are immigrants or were born in this country and live in our cities and neighborhoods. The fact that children are experiencing such deprivation must motivate us to immediately address their personal needs without hesitation.

Caring for children must not be a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue. It is a life issue.

Give today to help provide practical support to families in need!