Spring 2012 MARWIC Times 4/10/12:Layout 1 - USDA

1 , INFANTS, ANDCHILDREN WV s ValleyHealth Cabell WICT eams with WVUE xtension Agent toEducate 3 Grateful Puerto Rico WIC ParticipantSays 4 NJ s BurlingtonCounty WICP rogram OutreachTravels New JerseyTransit ..Page 7 PA WIC sCommunity ActionSouthwest sWinning 8 DC WICC elebrates Food 10 Continued on page 2 SPRING2012 WIC OFFICE OPENS ATVIRGINIA SFORTBELVOIRMILITARYBASEC ongratulations to Anna Kanianthra, FairfaxCounty (VA) WIC Coordinator and the WICteam for successful-ly securing a new WICoffice at Fort Belvoir. Thisoffice will serve the mili-tary community. Servicesbegan in December 2011,most recently military-based clinic located inAlexandria on FortBelvoir Post, which tookover 24 months of coordi-nation and collaborationbetween state, local andmilitary entities. This istruly collaboration ofmany but with one mis-sion in mind, servicingour communities withexcellence! GROUP EFFORT Some of those responsible for thenew Fort Belvoir WIC office are (left to right) ColonelJohn Strycula, Fort Belvoir Garrison Commander; Dr.

2 Gloria Addo-Ayensu, Fairfax County Health Director; Michael Welch, Director, Division ofCommunity Nutrition, Virginia Department of Health;Michelle Lake, Information & Referral Program Manager,Army Community Services, Fort Belvoir; Dr. DianeHelentjaris, Director, Office of Family Health Services,Virginia Department of Health; Anna Kanianthra, WIC Program Coordinator, Fairfax County HealthDepartment; Robin G. Johnson, Army CommunityService Director; Command Sergeant Major GabrielBerhane, Fort Belvoir; roberta Hodsdon, DirectorSupplemental Food Programs, Mid-Atlantic Region, Foodand Nutrition Service, Department of PLEASER roberta Hodsdon, Directorof the Special SupplementalNutrition Programs for theMid-Atlantic Region,addresses the WIC LACTATIONCENTERFEATURED INTHEWASHINGTONPOSTHats off to theEast of the RiverLactationCenter, which is a partof the Children sHospital WIC clinic atGood Hope Road inWashington, DC. Theywere recently featuredon the front page ofThe Washington PostMetro section.

3 Thearticle showcased thepositive efforts of thelactation center to increasebreastfeeding in the African-American population. The Eastof the River Lactation Center, inSoutheast DC, was funded by aUSDA Operational that breast-feeding rates of black motherslag behind other racial and eth-nic groups, Dr. Sahira Long,Pediatrician at the Good HopeRoad primary care clinic andPresident of the DC BreastfeedingWIC PARTICIPANT SDADJOS MORENOSHARESHISTHOUGHTS ONBREASTFEEDINGBy Elizabeth Santos, Breastfeeding Peer CounselorGuaynabo WIC ClinicElizabeth Santos, Breastfeeding Peer Counselor in GuaynaboWIC Clinic shares with us the testimony of a nursing father of the clinic, Jos a nursing father is a nice experience and you feelsafe and well because your child will get lots of nutri-ents and substances that other food does not we begin, the process was not easy, requiring dedicationto the first meeting of the baby will stick and was able to getbreast milk. As a parent I felt very proud that throughout thisprocess I help to take the baby in the nights to my wife forlatch on.

4 I help also in burping after breastfeeding. I wanther to not feel alone, breastfeeding is the job of is very important in the life of my baby; I see it grow strong and healthy. For me it was a unique experi-ence that assures me that my child will grow up healthy. PICTURE PERFECT Appearingin The Washington Poststory isLactation Consultant LynnetteHalfken demonstrating how toexpress breast THE NEWS Photographed for TheWashington PostisBreastfeeding PeerCounselor JamilahMuhayman talking to a WIC MARWIC Times newsletter is now available online at MARWIC Times is funded bythe United States Departmentof Agriculture, Mid-AtlanticRegion Office as a discretionary project of New Jersey Mickles, MS, RD ..Project Manager and NJ WIC DirectorChristina Balas ..Creative DirectorLisa Arnold ..Editor Please submit articles or story ideas for MARWIC Times to your State Editor at the State WIC Office PeppelmanDistrict of Columbia ..Anne Spaulding BruceNew Jersey.

5 Mary MicklesPennsylvania ..Bonnie MellottPuerto Rico ..Alma OrtegaVirgin BellWest Virginia ..Robert WinesMARO, HodsdonIn accordance with Federal law and Department of Agriculturepolicy WIC is prohibited from discriminating onthe basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination, write, USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW,Washington DC 20250-9410 or call (voice) or (TTY). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and USDA Food and Nutrition Serviceregional office in Robbinsville, NJ was the site of the Fiscal Year 2012 Mid-Atlantic Regional WIC State Directors Meeting, held February 7-9. The meeting stheme, Building a Brighter Future, set thestage for an exciting year to off the meeting was a warm wel-come by Patricia Dombroski, RegionalAdministrator, followed by an update and dis-cussion of the national issues currently facingthe Supplemental Food Programs from the SFPD irector, Debra Whitford.

6 Later, SeniorProgram Specialist Connie Kramer-Walker pre-sented a detailed presentation, WIC Fundingand Participation, which was followed by anupdate and discussion presented by SeniorProgram Specialist Robert Logan and ProgramSpecialist Brian Buszko on MIS and EBT. The second day encompassed an enlighten-ing presentation by Loren Bell, InstituteFellow, and Linnea Sallack Senior Associate atthe Altarum Institute, which detailed the Mid-Atlantic States WIC Program operations andcharacteristics. Next, roberta Hodsdon,in WIC, presented by Carol Smith, SeniorProgram Specialist. The meeting concludedwith warm thank you and wrap-up fromRoberta Hodsdon. MARO s WIC Director, gave an update onMARO WIC priorities for FY 2012 . On themeeting s second day, guests were greeted byDebbie Mansfield, Financial Management UnitDirector, with a detailed accounting of thecurrent undertakings in the financial manage-ment department. Later, Kirk Groomes,Financial Management Specialist, gave a pres-entation of the WIC Data Mining Pilot Projectcurrently underway at MARO.

7 The secondday concluded with an exciting NationalStudies Update, presented by Sylvia Nah,Program Specialist, and the first of two sharingsessions, affording States a unique face-to-faceopportunity to exchange ideas and meeting s final day began with aNutrition Services Update by Aracelis Lopez,SFP Nutritionist, Joni Garcia, SupplementalNutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)Nutritionist, and Marta Kelly, from FNS National Office. The subsequent State sharingsession facilitated lively discussion amongState representatives on the many innovativeinitiatives underway throughout the region. The latter half of the final day began with a civil rights presentation, ReasonableAccommodation for Program Participants,given by MARO s Civil Rights Director EllenShannon. Eric Ratchford, MARO s Director of Field Operations, and Justin Wohlsifer,Program Specialist, discussed current enhance-ments underway to improve Program integrityand the current WIC-SNAP reciprocal disquali-fication procedures.

8 Wrapping up the day sevents was an educational and entertainingvideo presentation on the Use of Social MediaCoalition, was quoted in the article, speaking about the barriers that mothers face in breastfeed-ing, such as lack of knowledge, are magnified among blacks in the high-poverty neighborhoods. There are myths that are passed on that it is painful, or that it will be difficult to get the babyto go to anyone other than the mother, said Long. If that mother is the first to breastfeed intheir family, then they won t get the family or community support. Kevin Concannon, USDA Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services was alsoquoted in the article. He spoke about the enhanced food package provided to women enrolledin WIC who exclusively breast feed as well as other ways WIC gives breastfeeding women sup-port, through peer counselor sessions, the distribution of breast pumps and nutrition counselingby Muhayman, the center s breastfeeding peer counselor; and Lynnette Hafken, lactationconsultant, were the stars featured in the article.

9 Lynnette was pictured training a woman onhow to manually express breast milk. Jamilah, described as ..more like a cousin or sister pro-moting a good cause than an authority figure, was also pictured and the article told the story ofhow Jamilah encouraged a breastfeeding mom who was uneasy about breastfeeding in public totry using a pump so she could also provide breast milk in a bottle. Other key personnel who contribute to this center s efforts include Nutritionists Lisa Brownand Kathryn Dowling; and Health Techs Francisco Flores-Matias, Santos Benitez and article is a great acknowledgement of the efforts of the WIC Program to support breast-feeding. It is also the kind of publicity we need to improve the public image of WIC andincrease public awareness of breastfeeding benefits. NEWS FROM THEUSDA: HIGHLIGHTS OF THEFY 2012 MARO WIC STAT EDIRECTORS MEETINGBy Justin Wohlsifer, MPADC WIC Lactation Center Featured in The Washington Postcontinued from page 1 TAKING A BREAK Attendees at the annualWIC State Directors Meeting in Robbinsville,New Jersey, enjoy an active stretch break.

10 WESTVIRGINIA SVALLEYHEALTHCABELLWIC TEAMS WITHWVU EXTENSIONAGENTTOEDUCATEWIC PARTICIPANTSBy Denise Eagan MA, RD, LDSusan Helo, and Jenna Rose, MA, RD, LDCabell WIC NutritionistsBrenda Porter, WVU Extension Agent,presented two different classes for par-ticipants who attend child nutrition edu-cation classes at Cabell WIC in Huntington,WV. One class was on food preservation,during which Brenda shared information aboutfreezing, canning, and dehydrating provided tips to participants such as,deciding which type of canning method to useand how to determine how much storagespace is needed for canned items onceprocessed. Brenda discussed both canningmethods (pressure canning and hot waterbath). At the end of the session, participantssampled the canned peach second class presentation was Meatless Meals. Brenda provided a cookingdemonstration and made Hearty Vegetable-Bean Soup. As she made the soup, she talkedabout using dry or canned beans and spicesand seasonings rather than salt in enjoyed tasting samples of thesoup.