Passaic, N.J.–The City of Passaic's WIC program was awarded the USDA’S WIC Breastfeeding Gold Award of Excellence on August 3rd, 2023. This is the first time the city has won this award. Mayor Hector C. Lora and Passaic's WIC program commemorated National Breastfeeding Month by hosting its first breastfeeding week celebration. The city held a resource fair from 3:00 -7:00 p.m. serving their current clients and new mothers.The city takes great pride in the services WIC has provided residents forever forty years and being recognized nationally is an outstanding achievement.
Annually, the WIC Breastfeeding Award of Excellence program, formerly known as the Loving Support Award of Excellence, is presented by the Food and Nutrition Service, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. The significance of this award is that it recognizes local WIC agencies that have worked hard to provide helpful support activities for breastfeeding. The goal of this award is to motivate local WIC facilities to sharpen up their resources for their community.
Organizations, businesses, and health groups such as Visions Credit Union, Super Fresh Supermarket, Dulce's Kitchen, US Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, Partnership for Maternal & Child Health, Amerigroup Northeast New Jersey: legal services, and St. Mary's General Hospital were present with additional resources and support they offer to the community. Goodie bags were distributed throughout the event including children’s clothing, gift baskets and snacks.
The event was a great success with over 60 families in attendance. The WIC’s program director Dana Hordyszynski stated that “The event was a total success because people connected with our community agencies. There was a lot of foot traffic with this event and we got such a great turnout with a positive response and feedback”.
The Passaic WIC program is a public health nutrition program that provides vouchers for nutrition education, nutritious food breastfeeding support, and education. The program helps women who are pregnant and postpartum with infants and children up to five years of age. Everyone is welcome. For more information, please contact (973) -365-5620, and please visit the website:https://www.cityofpassaic.com/218/WIC