WIC Shopper App Available To Help Families

Department of Public Health and Human Services officials are reminding Montanans the free Women, Infants and Children Shopper App is available to help families with their grocery shopping.

“We want to ensure that WIC recipients have what they need, and the app is one of the main tools that is available to help busy families,” said Kevin Moore of the Montana WIC Program. “The app includes many exciting features aimed at improving the overall shopping experience and modernizes how we are delivering services.”

The WIC Shopper App has various features to help participants better access their benefits and the available food items. The app allows users to:

•Scan the barcode to search for WIC food list eligible items

•Check benefits

•Locate WIC offices

•Find education about developmental milestones

•Search for recipes and life hacks for nutritious eating “The WIC Shopper App has been a big help as we try to make the most of our family budget,” said Sabrina Rubich, Billings resident and WIC participant. “It helps track benefits and includes great recipes.”

On average, over 6,500 families use the app every month.

DPHHS is also reminding Montanans that benefits increased in September 2022. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which funds WIC, increased the monthly benefit to buy more fruit and vegetables.

Households will now receive $25 per month for children up to age five, $44 for those pregnant, postpartum or partially breastfeeding, and $49 for those who are fully breastfeeding for fruits and vegetables. On average, this amounts to a monthly benefit increase of 37 percent for Montana families. The last time the benefit amounts experienced this large of increase was in 2009.

Specific WIC eligibility guidelines can be found on the DPHHS website.