Next year, state funding will enable the Fayette County Women, Infants, and Children program to provide clients transportation to area farmers’ markets. A portion of the $3,000 grant will help pay for bus tokens that will be distributed to clients. Fayette County WIC Program Coordinator Rebekah Shoopman says the aim is to get more fresh produce into the hands of women and their children. “They don’t always have a car or some way to get to the market," Shoopman said. "You know a lot of our clients take the bus or they walk, so we’ll be helping them get to the market to purchase fruits and vegetables there.”
Shoopman says every eligible household will receive one bus token. Officials have high hopes that the state grant will benefit many WIC recipients and their children. “We hope hundreds," said Shoopman. "That can certainly increase their knowledge of the farmers' market and getting access to the farmers market. That’s the majority of our clients, that they don’t have transportation, so several hundred is what we’re expecting.”
WIC serves low income pregnant women, breast feeding mothers, and their children up to the age of five. Shoopman says the Fayette County WIC program provides services to about 6,000 women every three months.?
