WIC Foods Can Supplement Your Thanksgiving Meal

Thanksgiving is traditionally a time when families gather together to celebrate. This year, the holiday celebrations will look very different for many of us. Many of us are staying home. Because we are staying home, this may be your first time cooking the Thanksgiving meal. Many of the foods offered by the WIC program can help supplement the traditional Thanksgiving meal. WIC offers so much more than formula and milk.

WIC offers a variety of foods in their food packages to help with the meal preparation. The fruit and vegetable benefit can be used to purchase squash, potatoes and cranberries. The bread can be used for stuffing or the rice for a side dish. The milk, cheese and eggs can be used in many ways. And the juice can be a beverage.

If you’re cooking a turkey for the first time and have questions, the Turkey Talk Line has been available for many years to help. Open in November and December, you can call 1-800-BUTTERBALL (1-800-288-8372). Or you can text 844-877-3456. The Talk Line answers over 100,000 questions each year.

The WIC program of Catholic Charities of Columbia and Greene Counties will be closed on Thanksgiving and the day after. WIC is currently doing appointments by phone. WIC offers nutritious food benefits to women who are either pregnant, breastfeeding or postpartum, and to infants and children up to 5 years of age. If you are interested in finding out more about WIC and whether you qualify, please call us at either 518-828-9668 or 518-943-9082, or visit www.wicstrong.com.