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Late at night on April 23, under the cover of darkness, John and Marilee Eitel drove around Rollingwood on their golf cart, planting signs in their neighbors' yards.
They featured song lyrics from Willie Nelson ("I just can't wait to get back on the road again"), The Little Mermaid ("I want to be where the people are"), Talking Heads ("Home is where I want I want to be") and Bob Marley ("Everything's going to be alright"). One version included advice from Minister of Culture Matthew McConaughey ("Just keep livin'").
"The next morning it was super fun to wake up and see the Instagram posts and Facebook messages and NextDoor messages with people saying, 'Have you seen the really cool signs?'" John said. "It started to get even more interesting because people are like, 'Look, there's more of them.' 'I found them over here.' It became kind of an Easter egg hunt, and no one knew who did it."
Rollingwood residents responded to John and Marilee's signs on social media. (John and Marilee Eitel)
John got the idea to make the signs a few weeks into the coronavirus quarantine, during which he got into the habit of walking along a four-mile loop in Rollingwood. "My wife and I started to see that as our outlet to the outside world and our chance to socialize and see neighbors," he said.
One night, on a whim, John broached the idea of making signs. He works for Canva, a company that makes graphic design software, and—after drumming up about a dozen different sign ideas—reached out to a coworker, who printed 50 and shipped them to the Eitels.
Since the signs made their debut, John has revealed his identity—and is now fielding requests from neighbors near and far. John placed a second order for 50 signs and then a third for 100 more. "It's been neat to see them popping up in lots of new neighborhoods," he said, citing appearances in Clarksville, Tarrytown and even on someone's boat dock.
(John and Marilee Eitel)
A Google form used to corral orders revealed crowd favorites, such as the Beatles' lyric, "All you need is love." John said he's enjoying the crowdsourcing nature of the project and making connections with Austin residents he might not have met otherwise, especially at a moment when our worlds feel smaller than usual.
On Wednesday, John is expecting his fourth shipment, which will bring the total number of signs to 400. When they arrive, he and his family will help prep the deliveries, with Marilee delineating orders with Post-It Notes and their children driving them to their new homes.
"I hope that my kids come away from this with a really positive memory," John said. "How we were able to make a small impact on people's lives and bring some positivity into our lives."
(John and Marilee Eitel)
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Caused mostly by a February recall due to contamination issues, followed by the Abbott Nutrition factory closure in Michigan, the shortage has left Austin shelves barren. However, earlier this week, U.S. officials announced a plan with the facility to restart production.
In the meantime, local parents in crisis have turned toward the Mother’s Milk Bank to keep their babies fed.
HEB on East 7th has been picked clean of formula and is limiting purchases. (Laura Figi/Austonia)
The milk bank—which takes donations from lactating mothers and dispenses milk to babies in the NICU—has been helping feed upwards of 30 families in need as the formula supply tightens.
According to the bank’s executive director Kim Updegrove, Mother’s Milk Bank has seen an uptick in calls from parents with healthy babies in need of help since the shortage began.
“We aren't used to hearing from families with healthy infants,” Updegrove said. “They're typically very upset, angry, frustrated, sobbing—it's scary to not be able to feed your infants. So in the past few weeks, those calls have been significantly increasing.”
Mothers are only able to donate if they are within a year postpartum, so Updegrove said they are constantly bringing on and retiring donors. While donors had been on a 30% decline leftover from 2021 when the shortage began, Updegrove said the shortage has led to mass community interest and more than 90 prospective donors in just the past few days.
“We and other milk banks are experiencing significant interest from the community—becoming milk donors and helping to turn around this crisis,” Updegrove said. “Every infant needs to be fed, every one of us can relate to that need, and we need to make sure as a community that it happens.”
Whole Foods downtown was also cleaned out of typical formula. (Laura Figi/Austonia)
While you may still be able to find formula at places like Whole Foods—which currently has goat milk, soy and plant-based formula in stock—Updegrove said it might not be what a baby needs.
Updegrove said it is best to buy types that say “infant formula,” as they are FDA approved and will provide the nutrients, vitamins and minerals a baby needs. Plant-based, homemade, non-cow's milk or diluting formula may not provide the same nutritional value.
As the community navigates the shortage, Updegrove said the most important way to help out is to not panic buy or stockpile.
“This is a crisis for families,” Updegrove said. “This is the time for the community to gather together and figure out what everyone can do to help families with young infants.”
