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First Lady Lori Shapiro toured ByHeart and Mary’s Shelter in Berks County to highlight efforts improving infant nutrition and family support in Pennsylvania. PHOTO/BYHEART
State officials visit Reading’s ByHeart
Stacy Wescoe//October 28, 2025//
Pennsylvania’s First Lady, Lori Shapiro, Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding, and State Senator Judy Schwank were in Berks County recently for a firsthand look at how infant formula company ByHeart is working with partners like Mary’s Shelter to tackle some of the challenges facing new families by ensuring every baby gets the foundational nutrition they need.
The visit included a stop at Mary’s Shelter, which provides safe housing and maternity residential services and other family outreach.
They then toured the ByHeart manufacturing facility.
The visit also highlighted ByHeart’s OpenHearted initiative.
By providing quality infant nutrition, designed with a patented protein blend closest to breast milk, OpenHearted is helping ensure infants receive the foundational building blocks needed to develop healthy systems.
The program also focuses on providing education and essential support to families in need. With the goal of delivering 5 million feeds by 2028, OpenHearted has already donated over 1 million feeds to families in need across 20 communities nationwide.
“I’m grateful for the chance to see the work ByHeart is doing in Pennsylvania to improve the health of babies and learn more about how they give back to families in need through their OpenHearted program,” said Lori Shapiro. “Too many families in Pennsylvania lack access to healthy, nutritious food and the essentials they need to get by. Josh and I are committed to combatting food insecurity and making sure moms and families have the support they need to raise healthy babies. We’re glad to have companies like ByHeart in Pennsylvania who do this work too with community organizations like Mary’s Shelter in Reading.”
