WICO food program may begin
at Korea bases by end of year
By Jeremy Kirk, Seoul bureau
chief
YONGSAN GARRISON — A voucher program providing food for
low-income families may begin in Seoul by the end of this year.
The Women, Infants and Children Overseas program gives food vouchers
to mothers with children under 5 years old. The WICO program — the overseas version
of the stateside WIC program — is run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Those who qualify for the program can use the vouchers at base
commissaries for specially marked items, including:
WICO aims to get mothers and children on nutritional diets, said
Matthew Carp, program manager for Choctaw Management, the agency that runs the WICO
program.
“[WICO] has cranked out a healthier population,” Carp said.
“We are in a junk-food era where it’s too easy to eat fast food. I think it
really puts on the front burner nutrition for these folks.”
Carp recently scouted for office sites in South Korea. He said he
hopes the first vouchers can be issued at Yongsan Garrison by the end of the year.
Offices also are planned for Osan Air Base, as well as in Taegu and
at the northern 2nd Infantry Division camps of Red Cloud, Stanley and Casey, Carp said.
WICO also will be open to family members who come on unaccompanied
status — meaning the military has not authorized their move to South Korea.
“We are looking at this program as a quality-of-life
program,” said Maj. Angie Hemingway, consultant and chief of community health nurses
for 18th Medical Command at Yongsan Garrison. “It will be a tool for commanders and
other senior leaders to assist their soldiers to keep combat focus.”
To be eligible for the program on the basis of income,
applicants’ gross income must fall at or below 185 percent of the U.S. Poverty Income
Guidelines, according to the Department of Agriculture’s Web site. For example, a
household of four would be eligible for WICO if its income was $32,653 or less. The U.S.
poverty level for a family of four is $17,650. Poverty levels differ according to family
size.
The program needs professionals to staff its offices, Carp said. Jobs
currently available include registered dieticians, nurses with maternal and child
nutrition backgrounds and home economists, he said. Choctaw Management’s contract
requires they first hire locally, such as family members, Carp said.
It’s estimated that Seoul will have 840 participants, Osan 252,
Taegu 116, Camp Casey 85 and Camp Red Cloud about 44, Carp said.
Officials are asking people to be patient when the offices open since
the program is new.
“We can’t see everybody immediately,” Carp said.
Participants will be prioritized by need. Pregnant mothers and those
with special nutritional risks will be given the highest priority. High priority also will
be given to people who are registered with WIC in the States and need to be certified
overseas, Carp said.
WICO has run well at other Pacific sites, Carp said. In Japan,
Yokosuka Naval Base opened an office in January and Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station
opened one in June. More than 1,600 people have been assisted by the program at Yokosuka
and about 233 at Iwakuni, Carp said.
“It really allows these folks to sit down with a trained
professional and talk about nutrition,” Carp said. “Most people don’t get
that.”
Professionals interested in working for WICO may e-mail résumés to wicjobs@cmse.net
More information on the WIC program is available at: http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/
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