WIC Recognition Day held

The Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) celebrated their 25th annual WIC Recognition Day on Friday, July 25 at Antun’s catering hall in Queens Village. Janet Malone and Margaret Lee presented awards to distinguished WIC staff on behalf of Senator Frank Padavan and Assemblymember Ellen Young, respectively.
Nearly 600 local agency and New York State Department of Health staff gathered to celebrate the strides they made this year within WIC, which supports low-income, nutritionally at-risk mothers and their children up to the age of five with food supplements, nutrition education, screenings and referrals.
In May 2008, New York City area WIC programs served over 360,000 low-income women, infants and children. This year, local agencies statewide faced new budgetary challenges, prepared to introduce a new food package, adopted a new nutrition education program and switched clients aged two and up to nonfat or 1 percent milk instead of 2 percent or full-fat.
“All WIC local agencies, of course, have staff who go above and beyond the call of duty each and every day - coping with everything from limited space to limited budgets to the demands of serving a highly diverse, multi-lingual clientele. We are very proud of the work they do,” said Kathleen Carpenter, Deputy Director of the Neighborhood WIC Program, in an e-mail.
Padavan recognized WIC Project Director Lee Fernandez and her staff for their work on breastfeeding issues. Young awarded David Qiu, Vera Leung, Michael Liufu, Jean Ren and Sandra Busutiel a New York State Assembly Citation for Community and Voluntary Work.
The theme of the event was “Finding Balance in Humor” and featured a presentation of the same title by motivational speaker Wendy Kaufman.