Contacting Sites

Calling, Scouting & Wind-Down Scripts

This is a template primarily for supply distribution sites, but it can also be used for shelters and blue-sky (non-emergency) sites such as food banks.

After an emergency occurs, you will need to connect with sites and organizations that are distributing infant feeding supplies, to help them manage those supplies and to directly educate and support families. You will also want to ensure that the site knows your team is a resource for supporting safe feeding of children under 3 years old.

Note: A template script for blue-sky (non-emergency) connections appears later in this document, followed by a wind-down script for when your response ends.

Anywhere you see a bracketed blank, fill in your own local information before using the script.

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1. Script for Phone Calls

Hello. My name is [YOUR NAME].

I am calling today with [YOUR ORGANIZATION].

OR

I’m an infant feeding specialist.

We/I would like to help you ensure that babies are being fed safely during the recovery. We have you on our resources for serving families in [SERVICE AREA — insert the area you are serving; for example, a named county, a metro area, or a multi-county disaster-affected region in YOUR STATE].

Questions

• We were wondering — is your site currently open and serving in your area?
• Do you have diapers, formula and those kinds of things?
• What are your hours?
• Do you serve children under 3?
  • Approximately how many children/families do you see on a daily basis?
• Do many of the families you serve need information in Spanish or another language?
• Do you have families with specific needs that we can help with? Are there special events when more families with young children come through that would be good for us to attend?
• Is your supply storage temperature-regulated, outdoors, or sheltered but unheated?

Closing

Our team would love to support your effort. We support caregivers in learning how to feed their babies or young children safely with education, sanitation kits to help families clean feeding items, safe formula feeding education, breastfeeding support, and more. We can also help you with organizing infant feeding items. Are you interested in having a volunteer come to your site?

[If yes, find out when someone can go there. Only commit to a specific time if you know for certain someone can be there at that time; otherwise aim for a day or a window of a few hours.]

Thank you so much. We appreciate everything you’re doing! If you want to know more about us, here’s our:

• Phone number: [YOUR PHONE]
• Email: [YOUR EMAIL]
• Website: [YOUR WEBSITE]

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2. Template & Guidelines for Site Visit Scouting

For in-person site visits.

It is better to call sites before showing up, but in an emergency response situation it is often not possible to reach them by phone or text. In that case, having volunteers just show up is necessary.

We recommend sending volunteers to sites in pairs whenever possible, except occasionally sending a local solo volunteer to areas they are familiar with and know will be safe.

Rough Script

Hello. My name is [YOUR NAME] and this is [SECOND VOLUNTEER’S NAME].

We are with [YOUR ORGANIZATION].

OR

We are infant feeding specialists.

We would like to help you ensure that babies are being fed safely during the recovery.

Questions

• How long are you planning to be open and servicing families in the area?
• What are your hours?
• Are you supporting families with children under 3? Do you see many of them?
• Do you have diapers, formula, baby food, and other infant needs?
• Do many of the families you serve need information in Spanish or another language?
• Do you have families with specific needs that we can help with? Are there special events when more families with young children come through that would be good for us to attend?

Would it be OK for us to stay and help educate families about how to safely clean their baby feeding supplies and safely feed their babies, and help you organize your infant feeding supplies?

Observe

At the site:

• Is there a place where we can be to support visiting families? If possible, stay for a while to provide education to families.
• If a drive-through line, ask if you can position yourself near the formula or diaper distribution and talk with the families.
• How many families with young children seem to be coming through? A few, a lot, or none?

At the formula and infant needs storage area:

• Is infant formula kept in a temperature-regulated area?
  • If yes, would they be willing to accept formula from other sites that do not have access to temperature regulation? If so, how much?
  • If no, try to have the formula moved to a temperature-controlled location — use the temperature-regulation conversation in the next section.
  • Make sure you are talking to someone in charge.
• Do formula and infant feeding items need to be organized and checked for damage and expiration dates? Does any need to be disposed of? If so, ask if you can help organize it. Later, if you find any expired items, ask if you can take them off their hands and dispose of them for them.
• Do they have specialty formulas there, in case any is needed for other sites or families? If so, make a note of this in your site notes so you can make a connection if a specific formula request comes in.

Before leaving

Find whoever you spoke with, or another somewhat “in charge” staff member:

Thank you so much for everything you are doing! We appreciate you letting us help you and these families. If you see any families that want or need extra support with anything related to infant care, here’s how to contact us or other resources.

[Leave cards and flyers so they can direct families to your team and/or resource hotline.]

Ask for the site supervisor’s name and get a contact number where you can reach them to check in before sending more volunteers.

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3. Temperature Regulation Issues — Questions & Suggestions

Find a regular volunteer to talk to. You may want to have a copy of safe formula storage guidelines from a recognized authority (for example, the manufacturer’s storage instructions or your state or national public health guidance).

Try to approach this conversation gently, remembering that you are both on the same side — you both want to keep babies safe and well-fed. Be curious, ask questions, and avoid being pushy or demanding. It’s OK to help them problem-solve.

Hi there! We were wondering — do you have a plan for items that need to be temperature regulated? We noticed that the infant formula here is stored [outdoors / in an uninsulated area / in a place without temperature regulation].

Can I share this document on formula storage guidelines with you?

We want to help you keep babies safe and well fed by ensuring that the formula remains safe to feed to babies and does not need to be thrown away.

Once formula is frozen it becomes unsuitable to dispense.

Would you like us to help you think through some options?

If they say yes, or ask what to do with the formula

Here are some options:

• Is there an indoor, temperature-controlled location it could be moved to?
• If there is no space for permanent indoor storage: Do you have access to any indoor, temperature-controlled storage for overnight or very cold days? Some sites put formula on a cart and roll it indoors when the temperature is near or below freezing.
• Would you be willing to relocate it to another site that is temperature-controlled? [If you know of climate-controlled sites:] We have located some temperature-controlled sites that may be able to take your formula supply.

However you leave it, close the same way:

We are not here to tell you what to do. We trust that you will do what is best for families.

We are not here to tell you what to do — we trust that you will do what is best for families.

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4. Blue-Sky (Non-Emergency) Sites — Connect & Support

Hello. My name is [YOUR NAME].

I am with [YOUR ORGANIZATION].

OR

I’m an infant feeding specialist.

We/I would like to help you ensure that low-resource families are able to feed their babies safely. We believe that some of the people you serve may benefit from our support.

Questions

• We were wondering — is your site currently open and serving in your area?
• What are your hours?
• Do you distribute diapers, formula, baby food, or similar items?
• Do you serve children under 3?
  • Approximately how many children/families do you see on a daily basis?
• How many of the families you serve have reliable access to shelter, safe water, and power?
• Do many of the families you serve need information in Spanish or another language?
• Do you have families with specific needs that we can help with, such as breastfeeding support, or locating specialty formulas?
• Are there special events when more families with young children come through that would be good for us to attend?
• Is your supply storage temperature-regulated, outdoors, or sheltered but unheated?

Closing

Our team would love to support your effort. We support caregivers in learning how to feed their babies or young children safely with education, sanitation kits to help families clean feeding items, safe formula feeding education, breastfeeding support, and more. We can also help you with organizing infant feeding items. Are you interested in having a volunteer come to your site?

[If yes, find out when someone can go there. Only commit to a specific time if you know for certain someone can be there at that time; otherwise aim for a day or a window of a few hours.]

Thank you so much. We appreciate everything you’re doing! If you want to know more about us, here’s our:

• Phone number: [YOUR PHONE]
• Email: [YOUR EMAIL]
• Website: [YOUR WEBSITE]

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5. Winding Down — Notifying Sites

Use this when your team’s active response is ending. Before calling, make sure you know whether this site stores supplies, distributes directly to families, or both.

Script for Phone Calls

Hello. My name is [YOUR NAME], with [YOUR ORGANIZATION]. Our volunteers have been helping your site periodically with organizing distribution items [and supporting families in feeding their babies in a safer way].

I’m calling to let you know that our team is winding down our operations and will no longer be visiting sites regularly after [END DATE].

Though our daily operations are winding down, we want to help you support people in need after [END DATE] and beyond. We have some resources we can offer.

• Training for staff/volunteers
• Resources for parents
• Guidance in how to make their own kits (and copies of handouts)

Would you like us to provide you with any of these?

• An informational sign you can post to help caregivers of babies and young children learn how to sanitize feeding items without clean water, and other ways to keep babies safer in an emergency.
• A brief staff/volunteer training video and printed quick reference for maintaining safer infant feeding supplies.
• An in-person training for your staff or volunteers about infant and young child feeding in emergencies.
• Guidelines for constructing your own safe infant feeding sanitation kits for distribution.
• Copies of the handout booklet we supply in our sanitation kits, for you to distribute to families.

[Discuss the above and what they mean, as requested, to clarify.]

[If they are not sure]

I understand — it is a lot to think about. Would you like us to email you these options and have a member of our team stop in to discuss it after you have had some time to think?

OK. What’s the best email address to use?

What would be some good days and times for someone to stop by?

[If they request something]

Sure, we can do that!

If they want a training:

• How long would you like to dedicate to training?
• Do you prefer in-person or virtual?
• When are some possible times that would work for your team?

If they want resource materials:

• Which resources would you like?
• When would be some good times for us to bring those by?

[If they don’t want anything]

We understand and respect that. Would you like some of our volunteers to visit your site one more time before we close, to support you as we can?

When are some good times to do that?

If you change your mind and would like some resources (or for us to come by), reach out to us by email at [YOUR EMAIL].

[Appreciation & sign-off — for ALL]

Thank you so much for your time today.

If you want to reach out to us in the meantime, or for resources later on, you can contact us:

• Before [END DATE]: [YOUR PHONE] / [YOUR EMAIL]
• Ongoing: [YOUR ONGOING CONTACT, if your organization continues in another form]

National SAFE Infant Feeding resources remain available at https://safeinfantfeeding.org and info@safeinfantfeeding.org.

Thanks again — we appreciate everything you’re doing!

It’s OK to adapt this script for texting.

FAQ

How long will we be operating? We will have teams going to sites daily until [END DATE]. After that, we will be able to provide occasional short trainings and resources, but may not be able to support families or help with supply organization.