Newark Flight Attendants Deliver Formula to Impoverished Orphans

A group of flight attendants based at Newark Liberty International Airport are donating one of the signature perks of their profession for a great cause: to bring food and other supplies to orphan babies in poor countries around the world.

News 12 New Jersey last week reported on a special Thanksgiving flight from the airport sponsored by “FormulaOneLife,” an organization founded by United Airlines flight attendant Mary Beth Lavin.

She and several of her colleagues used their free travel benefit for a holiday mission to an orphanage in Guatemala, a developing nation with a growing number of parent-less infants. FormulaOneLife, with the help of donations, purchased and delivered $5,000 worth of formula.  The group also works with orphanages in Haiti and Ethiopia.

"About five years ago I received an email from a friend of mine who is director of an orphanage in Ethiopia," Lavin told News 12. "She had 35 infant orphans to care for and no baby formula to feed them. I filled my luggage with as much formula as possible and flew it to her myself."

After Lavin founded the group, fellow flight attendants like Ana Negrete flocked to help.

"There's something very beautiful and powerful being able to feed a child," she said.