The Hawaiʻi Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program understands how COVID-19 has greatly affected families.
It announced the temporary increase in cash value benefit (CVB) to $35 for first-use dates of June, July, August and September.
CVB can be spent for fruits and vegetable purchases at authorized WIC stores to add more nutritious foods to their table. Funding for the provisional CVB raise comes from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), the governor’s office stated.
“This pandemic has been incredibly hard on Hawaiʻi families,” Melanie Murakami, branch chief, WIC Services Branch, Hawaiʻi State Department of Health, said. “The temporary increase of $35 will allow families to maximize WIC benefits and continue to include more fruits and vegetables into their daily meals while helping ease the extra financial stress they had to endure this past year.”
Included in the CVB participants’ monthly benefits are food supplies including milk, cereal, juice, whole grains, beans, peanut butter and baby food. Awareness of the increase is being rolled out to existing WIC participants. Breastfeeding mothers, those who are pregnant, have postpartum or with children under five years old can check if they qualify for WIC benefits by contacting their nearest WIC office. Locations are listed on signupwic.com.
Vendors will also be advised of the temporary $35 CVB increase and the chances of increased demand for more of their products in their stores as June, the first month of implementation, nears.
“The ARPA is the third legislation signed by President Joe Biden to provide financial relief during the declared COVID-19 public health emergency. The temporary $35 CVB increase is a joint opportunity between the Hawaiʻi WIC Program and USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS),” according to a recent release from the governor’s office.