About Us Washington Association of Local WIC Agencies (WALWICA) was founded in 1987 by six local WIC staff who delivered WIC nutrition services to clients across Washington state. These founding mothers recognized the need to bring together the collective knowledge of WIC professionals in the state to share and disseminate advances in nutrition and health sciences in order to strengthen the quality of the services provided to low-income women, infants, and children. Most of WALWICA's funding has been from government contracts for training delivery. Over the years, WALWICA has become increasingly involved in activities that transcend the WIC Program, including obesity prevention, anti-hunger work, and breastfeeding education and support. As a result of a two year strategic planning process, the Board of Directors recommended that WALWICA change its name to accurately communicate its purpose and to ensure achievement of it mission. On September 11, 2009, WALWICA members approved a new name - Nutrition First - and approved a new governance structure. The purpose of Nutrition First was updated in 2009: To ensure that young children of families with limited resources have opportunities for better nutrition to improve overall health and to act collectively to include the following functions: To operate as a network to provide ideas, materials, procedures, and education to promote the health, well-being, and nutritional status of women, infants, and children; To serve as a resource at the request of government, organizations, or individuals regarding issues affecting the health and nutrition of women, infants, and children; To promote, support, and advise nutrition programs working on behalf of maternal and child health and/or the public’s health in communities. We encourage you to contact us to learn about partnership opportunities.    Site map    Last updated: 03-Nov-2009 © 2009, Nutrition First, All Rights Reserved Contact the Webmaster with comments.