Ready to deliver baby formula is Jane Iberle Kirkley, '73 grad of Immaculata.

With love and admiration, a daughter speaks these words as she gently touches her mother's arm and smiles at the other women around the table. 

No wonder. Her mother is one of six women of the class of '49, The Immaculata High School, Chicago, who are enthusiastically carrying on a ministry begun 24 years ago and still flourishing today.

Kathryn Lamermayer Flaherty speaks from experience. Her mother, Virginia (Jinny) Carr Lamermayer is one of the women whose commitment is now shared with some of their daughters and friends.

A basket prepared for a baby is enjoyed by (l. to r.) Patty Branham, Virginia “Jinny” Lamermayer and Mary Ann McNamara.

When several Immaculata grads, class of '49, gathered for a New Year's Eve party in '82, they began a conversation that soon led to a ministry that today reaches into the lives of women and children across the Chicago metropolitan area.

 In '82, government cutbacks were affecting availability of milk at local pantries, which did not supply baby formula. Sometimes volunteers at pantries, themselves often people of minimal means, would buy formula to try and fill the gap for mothers.

Women who registered with the Women, Infant, Children (WIC) program had to wait a month for delivery of orders. Concern for women in this situation turned into action for these Immaculata grads.

They began gathering and delivering baby formula to pantries. In April '83, under the leadership of these women, INFANT, Inc. (Infants Need to Find Adequate Nourishment Today) was incorporated as an Illinois charity with a 501c3 status.

Founders are Dorothy Culhane Clarke, (also a graduate of Clarke College ), Virginia (Jinny) Carr Lamermayer, Joan Miller Vering, Barbara Williams Isaacson, Marie Schloss Schmid and Joan Bruno Iberle, who died of cancer in 2005. 

Ready to leave for one of several stops are (l. to r.) Joan Miller Vering, Fran Iberle Snyder and Dorothy Culhane Clarke.

Joan's daughters Fran Iberle Snyder and Carla Iberle Nowak now are part of the group.  Many classmates and other Immaculta graduates are financial contributors.

Hands-on Outreach

Today the women deliver formula and other supplies for infants and small children to over 60 churches, shelters, and pantries in the city and suburbs on a non-sectarian basis. 

INFANT, INC. through the years has raised almost $1,750,000 for formula and for more than 850 newborn layettes.

The ministry spends between $9,000 and $12,000 a month and has a budget which exceeds $100,000. Funding comes from individuals and from several foundations and organizations, including the Sisters of Charity, BVM.

Receiving gifts for the food pantry at Blessed Sacrament are (l.) Patricia Kerz, BVM (St. Julianna), Veronic Rios and Ed Schaffer.

“All the fun we've had, all we've learned, and how inspired we are with the people who work at the pantries,” is the way Virginia Carr Lamermayer describes her experience. “It's ‘hands on'; we use our own hands and vans.”

In the neighborhoods, Dorothy Clarke says, the group “sees all kinds of people doing all kinds of wonderful things.” “Never once have we missed because of bad weather,” adds Joan Miller Vering, “even once when it was minus ten degrees.”

“Doing this makes me grateful for what I have,” says Jane Iberle Kirkley, Immaculata class of '73.

First, some of the women go to Jewel to pick up formula. Then vans pull up to Dorothy's house. After organizing routes, the women begin their deliveries oftentimes followed by lunch together in a restaurant.

Each month, vans go to approximately 15 locations. One month it is south side, another month west side, and a third month, Uptown. Occasionally, women come to a volunteer's house to pick up something they need, as do some recipient organizations.

For example, Mary Ann McNamara and Patty Branham come from Preservation of Human Dignity, a women's counseling center which assists women with education and pregnancies. 

This group helps about 4,000 people and has been working with INFANT, Inc. for about ten years. “Clients are so grateful,” says Patty.

The older ladies have passed down the responsibilities of driving the vans, filling out forms and financial reports to their daughters and others who assist. 

Immaculata '60 and Mundelein College '64 grad, Pat Brow, makes lots and lots of crocheted afghans. Marie Schmid makes booties and receiving blankets. Over the years, the work of these women has been featured in various articles, including the Chicago Tribune and Ladies Home Journal.

“It is a privilege to walk with the '49ers,” says Kathryn Flaherty, Jinny's daughter. “They are great role models. They live out their faith.” No wonder she believes “these are our nuns right here!”

About the author: Helen Gourlay, BVM (Frances Helen) ministers at the 8th Day Center for Justice in Chicago.

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© 2007 Sisters of Charity, BVM