[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 61 (Tuesday, May 17, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 17, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                          SALUTE TO JEWEL PEDI

                                 ______


                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 17, 1994

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a selfless public 
servant who for the past 16 years has ensured that thousands of the 
less fortunate have had food to put on the table.
  As executive director of the Oxnard-based Food Share, Inc., Jewel 
Pedi has watched the organization grow from a small operation into a 
United Way agency that fed 1 in 6 Ventura County residents last year.
  But she has hardly just watched. Those who know Jewel Pedi know a 
woman who has struggled for years to both serve those in need of help 
and convinced those who do not that there were indeed less fortunate 
citizens living within their midst.
  Food Share, Inc. was established in 1977 as a food bank aiming to 
fight hunger in Ventura County by gleaning, soliciting, storing and 
distributing surplus and donated food to charitable agencies that help 
feed the needy. Today, the organization serves 250 agencies throughout 
the county--in excess of 90,000 people each month.
  Among the agencies served by Food Share are the American Red Cross, 
Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army, Zoe Christian Center, Meals on 
Wheels and many others.
  Run primarily through volunteer support, Food Share depends on 
hundreds of Ventura County residents who donate their valuable time to 
glean and sort produce and perform a variety of tasks associated with 
distributing food to the needy. Roughly 540 volunteers work with nine 
salaried workers to keep the food pipeline open and flowing throughout 
the county.
  Those who know and work with Jewel Pedi say that she operates from 
the heart, and what better quality can a person strive for? She has 
been married to her husband John for 49 years and they have shared the 
blessings of three children, 15 grandchildren and six great-
grandchildren.
  Retirement will give her more time to dote on those grandchildren, to 
do some traveling with John and to stop and appreciate the difference 
she has truly made in the lives of so many of her friends and 
neighbors.

                          ____________________