This Mother’s Day, think of all the S.C. moms who are struggling to feed their kids

WIC program

As many of us celebrate Mother’s Day, there are South Carolina mothers who are struggling to feed their small children. This is not acceptable. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program in our state isn’t cutting it. WIC addresses nutrition and health needs of low-income, pregnant and postpartum women, and infants and children up to age 5. The program hasn’t kept up with the needs of today’s moms and families.

WIC requires in-person shopping, creating an inequitable shopping experience. For moms in rural S.C., offering online shopping and delivery choices would provide them with more options for their families.

WIC has extremely strict guidelines for what participants can purchase. Rather than empowering parents and reinforcing the truth that they know their child best, S.C. chooses to dictate which size jar of peanut butter is acceptable. Any mom who has shopped with a toddler can attest to the fact that hunting down the approved 18 oz. jar rather than the non-approved 20 oz. jar is not a fun task.

The Child Nutrition Reauthorization is now being discussed in Washington. The reauthorization includes changes to address these inequities and barriers. I encourage our S.C. lawmakers to support the reauthorization.

Heather Blackwell, West Columbia

Thank you, teachers

As we celebrate Teachers Appreciation Week, I would like to thank all of the teachers, educators, administrators, nurses and the many support staff that have gone above and beyond during this most unprecedented time in our lives. They have been front line workers that have worked tirelessly to find unique, safe and ever-changing ways to continue to teach, motivate and encourage our children.

Personally, I am grateful for Hammond School. Our students did not miss a single day of instruction, even after the Governor ordered schools to close in-person instruction on March 15, 2020. Hammond was prepared to immediately begin online instruction the very next day. Our teachers gave up free periods to decrease class sizes, quickly learned new skills to teach online, offered extra support outside of regular class time and have far surpassed anything we could have ever expected of them.

Thank you to all for the many sacrifices everyone has made to love, care for and continue to make the future look bright for our children!

Katherine Lockwood, Columbia

Lexington construction

Builders in Lexington protesting the new construction moratorium is interesting. I would suggest Lexington adopt an approach similar to the ones used in growing suburbs around the country and require the builder(s) submit an infrastructure plan for new streets, widening of existing ones into the development, burying all cables and power lines, etc., in and around their developments.

This is paid for by the builder and must be complete before any homes are built. Home builders should be held accountable for not only their development but the impact it has on surrounding home owners and businesses. Mineral Springs is an example of a road being overwhelmed by new development, which could have been avoided with this mode.

Steve Wolfe, Lexington

Driving without a license

Your recent article concerning driving without a license could not have been more biased. Did you consider how many people’s lives have been impacted by people driving without a license when they cause accidents and have no insurance? I now pay for under-insured insurance because my family has over the years been hit by non-insured drivers three times.

The gentleman in your story seems nice and a hard worker, but he has not been a responsible driver in the past. Choosing to drive uninsured is a bad choice, but he kept on for 20 years. He wants to make this a race issue; there are many non-black people who get stopped for “no reason” also. I once was stopped driving at 1 a.m. by an officer who simply wanted to know why I was driving through “his town” at 1 a.m. My reason? I had given one of my sons, who did not have a license, a ride home from work and was on my way home. I was angry, as I broke no laws, and was released; but my race did not stop me from being stopped.

Sharon Allen, West Columbia