This was one way the Collaborative continued to reach out to parents and caregivers and kept information flowing during the pandemic. When the pandemic brought in-person gatherings to a halt, Allen enlisted students from the Georgia Southern dietetic intern program to record cooking demonstrations and post them online. “I would have never thought to use a tortilla that way, but I continue to make that snack to this day.” “In one class we made healthy chips using multigrain tortillas,” she said.

With recipes ranging from spinach and red pepper mini frittatas to taco soup and French toast, Rogers said the classes showed her how to use WIC-approved products in ways she hadn’t considered. It will help her when she has a family of her own one day to know that fruits and vegetables are an important part of a good diet.” “It’s good for Khalani’s health and for her to start good eating habits at an early age. “It’s important to have nutritious meals,” she said. Keona Rogers participated in several classes hoping to find recipes that her 4-year-old would enjoy. Parents join Coordinator Tamra Allen in the kitchen at the Emanuel County Early Learning Center to cook a wholesome meal and then take the ingredients home to recreate the dish. This is the intention behind Emanuel County Family Connection’s cooking classes-just one initiative through their work in Georgia Family Connection Partnership’s (GaFCP) WIC Matters Cohort, which helps ensure that eligible women are informed about, enroll in, and actively use WIC’s resources. When parents learn how to prepare nutritious meals using Women, Infants and Children (WIC)-approved items, they’re more likely to use the program’s food vouchers and put healthy meals on the table.

Emanuel County Family Connection Coordinator Tamra Allen (center) shows Early Head Start parents (Dacia, Sky, Whitney, Allyson, Keona, and Jasmine) how to make squash parmesan rounds.

Wic approved items