[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 34 (Wednesday, March 23, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 23, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                              VELDA MEYER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Kingston] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, one of the great stories and, I think, an 
unwritten story in the United States of America has to do with 
volunteerism. We often talk about volunteerism, but yet it really is an 
entity in itself. As we in Congress and in State legislatures all 
around the country try to grapple with the problems of society today, 
we try to take care of the neighborhoods, and families, and crime, and 
health care, and all these things. We often overlook the fact that 
there is a strong, and many times invisible, army that is out there 
that is the margin between success and failure in our society. 
Organizations such as the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, different church 
groups, neighborhood associations, hospital groups and so forth have 
done so much work to continue the great legacy of America, and tonight 
in that regard I want to talk about one of the best volunteers that I 
know, a lady named Velda Meyer from Isle of Hope, GA, a lady I am proud 
to call a neighbor and a friend, a citizen and a great American. Velda 
lives around the corner from me, but her sphere of influence is not 
isolated to our neighborhood by any means, but I do want to tell a 
story about a couple of the things that she does.
  I say to my colleagues, ``If you are up early in Isle of Hope and you 
are driving down Grimble Point Road, you can see a beautiful median and 
a little garden that Mrs. Meyer along with a handful of her friends 
that she recruits every year; they take care of that whole median, no 
taxpayer expense. They are out there. They are pruning and planting 
flowers, cleaning up litter from the weekend. They are doing so much, 
and there is no thank you for it. They don't even get credit most of 
the time.''
  Another thing that Velda Meyer did at her own initiative: For years 
she was the neighborhood Halloween witch, and at her house every 
Halloween she would put on a little miniature spook house, and there 
were spiders, and cobwebs, and plastic rats and bales of hay. Velda 
would put on some tinsel type green hair and dress as a witch, and all 
the little children of Isle of Hope and many other children from 
Savannah and the surrounding area would come and see her. It was a 
neighborhood tradition in many respects.
  Mr. Speaker, Velda Meyer has done many, many other things, and a 
mutual friend, Mrs. Leila Bravo, has given me a whole list of items 
that she has done, and I want to read these into the Record, Mr. 
Speaker, and will do so at this time:

                              Velda Meyer

       Velda Meyer is a very special resident of the Isle of Hope 
     community and the Chatham County area. She has devoted the 
     last 50 years to a number of volunteer organizations as well 
     as her community.
       She began her work as a volunteer worker with the Red Cross 
     at the East St. Louis Chapter in surgical dressings in 1941. 
     She was certified as a nurse's aide at the East St. Louis 
     Chapter, Belleville, Illinois in 1942. Velda worked at the 
     East St. Louis Chapter as a nurse's aide in 1942, 1943 and 
     1945 for a total of 358\1/2\ hours and at the St. Louis Bi-
     State Chapter, Belleville, Illinois in 1958-59.
       After moving to Savannah she began her volunteer work in 
     September 1959 with the Red Cross. She has given a total of 
     10,139 hours from that date thru December 1993.
       She was appointed chairperson of youth volunteers in Red 
     Cross in 1961 and also served as chairperson of volunteers at 
     Memorial Medical Center thru Red Cross 1964/65/66.
       Velda has served as a volunteer at Memorial Medical Center 
     for 24 years. She was voted Volunteer of the Year in 1988.
       In her Isle of Hope community, she has been a devoted 
     friend to all the residents of the island. Velda worked very 
     hard for the Little Historical Park on the Bluff near the 
     Marina.
       The Parkersburg Garden Club has benefited since the early 
     70's from Velda's membership and dedicated service. For many 
     years she has been responsible for the beautification of the 
     plot on the road to Dutch Island. In 1981, the club honored 
     her with life membership. Velda has represented the 
     Parkersburg Garden Club in the Savannah area garden club 
     council on many of their projects.
       Velda is a member of the Isle of Hope Community Club and 
     the Historical Society.
       For many years, Halloween was very special to several 
     hundred children who visited Velda. She dressed as a witch, 
     stirred her smoking kettle, and made Halloween come alive 
     with eerie music, spidery decorations and candy. Also, for 
     many years Isle of Hope residents celebrating their birthdays 
     found colorful balloons on their mailboxes. Velda delivered 
     them by bicycle very early in the mornings. Visits to the 
     sick, food and get well wishes to the shut-ins, rides when 
     your car is on the blink, Velda is always there to help.
       Other areas where this dear lady's life has made a 
     difference is: the Savannah Symphony Women's Guild and the 
     Republican Women's Club. She has been a member of the guild 
     since its inception. She has solicited items for the TV 
     auctions, got up tables for the fashion shows, helped raise 
     money for the annual fund event, and helped promote and sell 
     tickets for the symphony.
       She has served as chaplain and sunshine chairperson of the 
     Republican Women's Club. She sells more tickets for the 
     luncheon and fashion show which is the annual fund raising 
     event. This not only benefits Republican candidates but also 
     community projects.
       Last but not least she is also active in her church, the 
     Lutheran Church of the Ascension. There she is chairperson of 
     the greeters, a position she has had for many years.
       This lady is indeed one of Savannah's goodwill ambassadors.
  Mr. Speaker, I will conclude with saying, ``When you really look at 
the true difference between America and other countries, it's not just 
our form of government, but it's our people, and Alexis de Tocqueville 
said America is good because Americans are good. Velda Meyer is a true 
example of that. She is a lady who has given, given, given, and given, 
and altruistic American and a great America.''

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