A newborn in Minneapolis hadn’t eaten for a day and a half. Her mother had risked going into work to get just enough money for more diapers when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) agents stopped her car and took her away, showing the terrifying circumstances facing many Minneapolis moms. At home waiting for her were her 16-year-old daughter and the baby — just barely three months old.

With their mother gone, the teenager tried to feed the baby, who was exclusively breastfed, formula to no avail. So they called Bri.

For over a month and a half now, Bri, a mother of two in Minneapolis, has run an expansive donation network in the city, most of it to help other moms and families with children. Bri, who is breastfeeding her own infant, posted on her social media that in addition to groceries and diapers and wipes, she could also donate breastmilk to anyone who needed it.

Bri is an overproducer — in one morning, she might pump 45 ounces alone. When the call came on January 17, Bri had pumped about a thousand ounces of extra breastmilk, which was stored in her freezer. She knew it was likely a matter of time before she’d hear of a baby in need.

An hour and a half after she received the call, Bri was at the family’s doorstep with 350 ounces of milk in a cooler, along with a care package that included instructions on how to safely thaw the milk, a bottle warmer, bottles and some extra clothes that no longer fit her then-6-month-old, demonstrating how Minneapolis moms are supporting one another.

Inside, the baby was screaming.

They quickly put together a bottle and watched as the child’s body relaxed. The baby drank the whole bottle and fell asleep.

Bri wept.

Then the rage set in for what many Minneapolis moms are facing.

“I felt very angry — very, very, angry, and I couldn’t imagine what the 16-year-old was feeling because she felt broken. Her mom was her world … and now they’re separated,’” Bri said. “There are moms that are literally being torn apart from their kids.”

Read the full article about how Minneapolis moms are supporting each other by Chabeli Carrazana at Reasons to Be Cheerful.