WIC nutrition program a big
hit so far
at Baumholder and RAF LakenheathBy Adam Ramirez
Kaiserslautern bureau
| What is WIC? Since its beginning in 1974, Women, Infant and
Children has been known as one of the most popular and successful federally funded
nutrition programs. Serving 45 percent of all infants born in the United States and 25
percent of all new mothers, WIC focuses on low-income, pregnant women, new mothers,
infants and toddlers.
Those eligible include:
- Women throughout pregnancy and up to six weeks after birth.
- Breastfeeding women, up to infant’s first birthday.
- Non-breastfeeding women, up to six months after the infant’s birth
or after pregnancy ends.
- Infants up to their first birthday.
- Children up to their fifth birthday.
Eligibility for the WIC program is based on
several factors, including family income, a nutritional health risk assessment and medical
screening to identify those at risk. Participants receive vouchers for specific food
products.
— Adam Ramirez |
Local
mothers, with children slung over their shoulders, have been flooding the newly opened
Women, Infants and Children Office in Baumholder, Germany.
They bring
paperwork and financial papers, sign up and leave the same day with food vouchers in hand.
The popular
WIC program has been doing brisk business in its first couple of weeks in Europe, with
more than 200 women signing up evenly between the Baumholder and RAF Lakenheath, United
Kingdom, offices.
"Everyone’s
just thrilled about the program — they love that they can get the vouchers the same
day," said Tiffany Hetherington, a volunteer at the Baumholder WIC office.
"I’ve been booking people up through March. The earliest appointment I have
right now is March 6."
For those
who qualify, typically pregnant women, recent mothers and children, WIC provides
nutritional foods high in protein, calcium and iron to supplement their diets.
WIC pays
for extra iron-fortified infant formula and infant cereal, iron-fortified adult cereal,
vitamin C-rich fruit and vegetable juice, eggs, milk, cheese, peanut butter, dried beans,
peas, tuna fish and carrots.
Women love
it because it keeps them and their babies healthy — and for the obvious financial
help at the commissary checkout.
Baumholder
resident Angel Hale, who has used WIC benefits on and off since 1984, was among the first
women to sign her family up for the program.
"With
our husbands deployed all the time, the families here can really use the help — WIC
helps a lot," Hale said. "A lot of us have been advertising WIC by word of
mouth. It’s the best advertisement."
Baumholder
and Lakenheath were chosen pilot program sites. Organizers intend to expand the program,
said Tricare Europe spokeswoman Sue Christensen.
"Right
now, only women in these two areas can use WIC, but plans are under way to get WIC offices
working throughout the European theater," Christensen said. "We’ve gotten a
lot of calls from women all excited about WIC, and we’ve had to say, ‘Sorry,
it’s not available yet.’ "
Many of the
Baumholder women who use WIC shop at the Ramstein and Vogelweh commissaries and WIC
stickers identifying eligible foods have cropped up lately.
"We’ve
gotten a lot calls from around Kaiserslautern. Apparently, someone was circulating a rumor
that Ramstein was taking overflow WIC people," Hetherington said. "But right
now, we’re only able to sign up Baumholder people."
Baumholder,
home of the 1st Armored Division, has two zip codes eligible right now: 09034 and 09262.
With about
13,000 Americans living there, Baumholder’s large supply of young families made it a
top choice as a pilot site, said Capt. Maureen Hogan, Baumholder’s WIC program
officer.
"Baumholder
was chosen because it has a lot of young folks who are eligible, and the spouses are often
deployed," Hogan said.
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