[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 23, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1828-E1829]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             IN RECOGNITION OF THE FOOD BANK OF NEW JERSEY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARGE ROUKEMA

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 23, 1997

  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I had a most remarkable and heartwarming 
experience yesterday. I visited the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, 
in Hillside. The Food Bank of New Jersey is a sterling example of how 
private citizens, church groups, and business volunteers can come 
together and work hard to improve the lives of the less-fortunate in 
their community. I want to give my thanks and appreciation to Kathleen 
DiChiara, executive director of the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, 
and Sister Christine Vladimiroff, president of Second Harvest, the 
National Food Bank Network. But most importantly, I want to thank the 
thousands of volunteers whose hard work and extraordinary dedication 
make the Food Bank's success possible.
  The Food Bank is an amazingly effective organization, distributing as 
much as 12 dollars' worth of food for each $1 of its budget. Acting as 
a sort of wholesale-level savior for the hungry, it distributes an 
incredible 10 to 14 million pounds of food and other groceries each 
year to the places where hungry people turn for help--food pantries, 
shelters for the homeless, soup kitchens child care centers, battered 
women's shelters, and senior nutrition programs. In all, it serves more 
than 1,500 organizations in 18 New Jersey countries from its 
headquarters in Hillside and its Southern Branch in Egg Harbor 
Township. The Food Bank also operates the extra helping program, the 
first prepared food rescue program in the state, distributing 30,000 
meals a year including kosher meals.
  The facilities are impressive: a fully equipped, 280,000-square-foot 
warehouse, 15,000 square feet of freezer and cooler space, a fleet of 
trucks on the road daily, including refrigerated trucks, and an 
experienced, professional staff.

[[Page E1829]]

  None of this would be possible without volunteers, More than 6,000 
people contribute 50,000 hours a year of their time. Many community 
organizations are involved--the Center for Food Action in Mahwah, the 
Church of the Presentation in Saddle River, Little Sisters of the Poor 
in Totowa, the NORWESCAP Food Bank in Phillipsburg, Ridgewood United 
Methodist Church, and the Salvation Army, to name just a few. The Food 
Bank is also supported by a number of national organizations such as 
Bread for the World and Second Harvest, of which it is a member.
  Businesses play a huge role in the operation of the Food Bank, with 
more than 250 companies making large-scale donations of food. The 
companies that work with the Food Bank are among New Jersey's most 
outstanding corporate citizens clearly showing their concern for the 
most basic of human needs.
  On the day of my visit, more than 200 volunteers were on hand who had 
been allowed to take the day away from their regular jobs at KPMG Peat 
Marwick's Montvale and Short Hills offices in order to help sort food 
for distribution. Their presence was part of KPMG Peat Marwick's 
``World of Spirit Day,'' on which 20,000 employees in 130 offices 
across the country were given the day off with pay in order to 
volunteer at schools, hospitals, nursing homes, parks, youth centers, 
and other locations. This is a wonderful innovation on the part of KPMG 
Peat Marwick and shows the sincere commitment of this corporation to 
the communities where it does business. I am fully committed to urging 
other businesses to establish policies following this outstanding 
example. KPMG Peat Marwick's effort yesterday, in fact, was part of 
activities being undertaken by 300 companies across the country to 
fulfill pledges made 6 months ago at the Summit for America's Future. 
These companies are answering President Clinton and Congress' call for 
a nation of volunteers by providing free childhood immunizations, 
donating computer software to public libraries, and providing free 
books for schools, among other actions.

  The Summit for America's Future has sparked a wave of volunteerism, 
including 150 State and local minisummits that are spreading the word. 
We must work, however, to ensure that this is not a one-time occurrence 
and to show that corporate volunteerism is not a fad. Corporate 
volunteerism is the right thing to do. It is also good business--
consumers will see which companies care about the communities around 
them.
  The need for volunteers--and organizations such as the Food Bank--is 
great. Between 20 and 30 million Americans suffer from hunger, 
including 1 of every 12 pre-teen children, according to studies by the 
Congressional Hunger Center and the Food Research and Action Center. 
Nearly 26 million Americans rely on food banks for emergency food 
assistance every year. In my own State of New Jersey, more than 500,000 
people depend on food stamps to get by each month. Eleven percent of 
New Jersey children live below the pverty level and almost 300,000 
under the age 12 are hungry or at the risk of hunger. Neither the 
government nor private organizations can help these people without the 
assistance of volunteers.
  Not all of these hungry children and adults are homeless people on 
the streets or in other obviously distraught situations. Sometimes they 
are a single mother, earning minimum wage, who has to decide between 
getting her car repaired so she can keep her job or buying food to feed 
her children. A middle-aged homeowner laid off in a corporate 
downsizing may have exhausted his savings and unemployment benefits. A 
grandmother living on Social Security might get by on tea and toast in 
order to pay the rent.
  These tragic circumstances in this the most wealthy country in the 
world must be addressed and eliminated and tragedies such as these are 
why I am a sponsor of the Hunger Has A Cure Act. The Hunger Has A Cure 
Act is supported by a large coalition of some of the Nation's largest 
hunger organizations, including: Bread for the World; the Campaign To 
End Childhood Hunger; the Center on Hunger, Poverty and Nutrition 
Policy; Foodchain; the Food Research and Action Center; Results: Second 
Harvest; Share Our Strength; and World Hunger Year. This bill is 
essential if we are to protect the safety net for those in need and 
ensure that the climate of budget cutting in Washington doesn't take 
the food out of the mouths of hungry babies. As I pledged to the 
volunteers and directors of the Food Bank yesterday, ``I'll be there 
for you.'' Just as we saved WIC funding and protected food stamp 
eligibility this year, I will continue to work to ensure that nutrition 
programs are protected.
  I spent only a short time at the Food Bank but I was inspired to work 
even harder to complement their work, hard work, energy and dedication, 
and end hunger in our time. To see the large number of individuals who 
give freely of their time in order to see that others do not go hungry 
is heartwarming and inspiring. We have made great progress in caring 
for the poor and hungry in our Nation but we must do more. We need more 
organizations like the Food Bank and more individuals like its 
volunteers. We must all do our part, whether it be by making donations, 
volunteering time, or helping pass legislation. We cannot stop because 
the battle will never be won as long as there is one hungry child or 
adult left in America.

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