AUBURN – Blame it on higher prices for milk, eggs and cheese.

The number of people in Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties getting aid from a nutrition program for women and children “is as high as I’ve ever seen it. And I’ve been here 20 years,” said Ginny Andrews, who oversees the Women, Infants and Children program for the three counties.

Statewide numbers paint the same story.

The caseload is at an all-time high, said Nora Bowne, state director of WIC.

The latest numbers available Thursday were for August, when 26,274 Mainers were enrolled in WIC, a 3.7 percent increase from August 2007.

Bowne speculated that families who qualified for assistance before may not have applied. With fuel and food costs squeezing budgets, “people need help where they can get it.”

Andrews agreed.

“A lot of people don’t want to apply for assistance, but now the need is there,” she said. “They’re wondering how they’re going to make ends meet.”

WIC is a supplemental food assistance program that provides vouchers for pregnant and nursing women and children from birth to age 5. The vouchers are for milk, cheese, eggs, cereal, infant formula and peanut butter.

“It’s unbelievable how much those costs have gone up,” Andrews said. “I go to the store myself and think, ‘What?’ Even though gas prices have recently gone down, we haven’t seen food costs go down.”

Many WIC clients are members of working families, Andrews said. Income guidelines require that recipients earn less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level – $32,560 for a family of three; $39,220 for a family of four.

WIC families can also receive vouchers for farmers markets. In the past, not everyone took advantage of those, but this past summer they were gobbled up, Andrews said.

Meanwhile, Maine’s federally funded food stamp program, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is receiving a high number of applications but no record-breakers, John Martins of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday.

In August there were 6,925 applications, up from last August. But the highest month was January 2008 when 7,750 people applied, Martins said. Food stamp applications tend to go up in December and January, he said.

If the number of WIC clients continues to climb, there could be a waiting list, Andrews cautioned, adding that she had seen a waiting list once or twice before.

Because of the demand, there is a bit of a wait for people to enroll, she said.

Food prices, from August 2007 to August 2008

7.4 percent increase: Food purchased for home

5.46 percent increase: Baby foods

12.04 percent increase: Fruits and vegetables

Another 4 to 5 percent increase: Projected for food in 2009

Sources: Consumer Price Index, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics