With a mandate from Governor Tony Knowles to make children and families the State s highest priority, under the leadership of Dr. Nancy Rody, the Alaska WIC program has become an outstanding example of creative thinking and effective operation. Often working in remote rural villages, the WIC program finds new ways to serve the unique needs of Alaska s diverse families, despite facing extreme challenges of weather, logistics, and financial constraints.
Roads connect only five of Alaska s urban centers.
Of the twenty-seven regional WIC hubs, twelve serve villages accessible only by water, air, or sled dogs during the winter. In rural areas, WIC staff travel to remote villages by floatplane, river boat and dog sled, and in some places, participants can only receive a mailed food package. In response to complaints about the food package, boxes now contain items which can be shipped more safely including powdered eggs and powdered milk. In addition, Alaska obtained approval to substitute salmon, an indigenous and more culturally acceptable food, for tuna. Hispanic participation has doubled from 5.5 percent to 10.8 percent of those served in the past five years, and similar growth has been observed in the Asian and Pacific Islander population during this time.