BEND, OR -- Deschutes County Health Services hosted a health fair Thursday to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the WIC program.
Christine Pagano, the county’s WIC supervisor, says the local program has been around for most of those 50 years, “So we serve month to month, just over 3,000 participants. We actually serve a quarter of the births in Deschutes County. So, one out of every four births is participating in WIC. So, we have a pretty wide reach in our community that we’re serving.”
The fair included other county health services and local non-profits. “We have our WIC participants coming to celebrate and get their farmers market coupons, which is a pretty exciting program that we do every season.” Former employees joined current staff to celebrate, also. “Among our WIC staff and retirees, we have I think, 358 years of WIC service combined here today, which is really amazing to have staff that have been dedicated to this program for so long and willing to come back in their retirement to help us with that event,” Pagano says adding, “We have a really strong program, really well-received in our community, really well supported. It’s a really special place to be able to work in WIC.”
The Women, Infants and Children program offers nutrition and health education, and food vouchers for grocery stores and farmers markets.
