[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 20 (Wednesday, March 4, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E286-E287]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING THE HOUSTON FOOD BANK ON ITS 15TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEN BENTSEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 4, 1998

  Mr. BENTSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the Houston Food 
Bank on 15 years of service to the community. The Food Bank will 
celebrate its anniversary with a gala birthday luncheon on March 12, 
1998. In keeping with its tradition of seeking ever new ways to serve, 
funds raised at the luncheon will be used to expand delivery of fresh 
fruit and vegetables and provide nutrition education to thousands more 
needy families.
  There is much to celebrate. Since it opened its doors in March 1982, 
the Houston Food Bank has steadily grown into the nation's fourth-
largest food bank, serving 36 counties in southeast Texas and feeding 
200,000 people each month.
  When it began, the Houston Food Bank consisted of volunteers picking 
up food in a psychedelic Volkswagen bus and icing it down in picnic 
baskets. Today, the Food Bank operates from a 73,000-square-foot 
warehouse featuring 160,000 cubic feet of freezer and refrigerated 
space. It operates three bobtail trucks, two tractors, and eight 
trailers for pickup of donated food provided through a partnership with 
300 food companies.
  Since its inception, the Food Bank has provided 160 million pounds of 
food to people in need. Last year alone, the Food Bank provided 20 
million pounds of food and other essentials to 400 member charities, 
including food pantry programs, shelters for the homeless, nutrition 
programs for the elderly, and group foster homes.
  These accomplishments are reason enough to celebrate, but the Houston 
Food Bank recently received more good news when it was honored with the 
Congressional Hunger Center's 1997 ``Victory Against Hunger Award.'' 
The Center praised the Food Bank as ``a national model for innovation 
and efficiency in feeding the hungry,'' specifically citing programs 
that ``engage all facets of the community in the fight against hunger.
  This is but one of many well-deserved honors the Houston Food Bank 
has received. In 1984, the Houston Food Bank became a certified member 
of Second Harvest, a network association of 185 food banks across the

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United States. The Food Bank's honors include Second Harvest's Food 
Bank Award for Excellence in 1990, the Nabisco Model Food Bank Award in 
1993, and the Hunger's Hope Award for Innovation in 1996.
  The Houston Food Bank's fresh produce operation, the Produce People 
Care Center, serves as a model food bank program nationally, handling 
six million pounds of nutritious fruits and vegetables each year. In 
another initiative that is being copied elsewhere, the Food Bank has 
formed a partnership with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice 
whereby Texas prison inmates are growing millions of pounds of fresh 
fruits and vegetables on surplus prison farmland.
  Perhaps the most important ingredient of all in the Houston Food 
Bank's success is community involvement. As a private, non-profit 
organization, the Food Bank depends on the support of concerned 
businesses, foundations, individuals, and the religious community for 
financial support to meet its annual budget. In addition, about 4,500 
hours are donated by volunteers each month. Because of the strong 
support of the food industry and its low operating cost, the Food Bank 
is able to provide $20 in food for each dollar donated.
  As the Houston Food Bank celebrates its 15th anniversary, it will 
honor two visionary couples who put a roof over the Food Bank's head 
and a foundation under its dreams. When the Food Bank was just an idea, 
philanthropists Joan and Stanford Alexander of Weingarten Realty 
Investors stepped forward with an offer of donated warehouse space, 
which gave the Food Bank both a home and credibility in the community. 
Then, in 1988, the late Albert and Ethel Herzstein donated the Food 
Bank's permanent home, the 70,000-foot-warehouse that is in use today.
  Joan and Stanford Alexander's support of the Houston Food Bank from 
the beginning gave the organization public credibility when it needed 
it most. They have been valuable members of the Food Bank's Advisory 
Board, offered wise counsel, and advocated on behalf of the Food Bank. 
The Alexander's support of the Food Bank is just one expression of 
their concern for the disadvantaged and suffering, which has also led 
to their involvement with Crisis Intervention, SEARCH, and Interfaith 
Ministries of Greater Houston among many other organizations. Their 
help in the Food Bank's beginning stages is truly commendable and their 
continuing commitment has made it possible for the Houston Food Bank to 
fulfill the potential they foresaw.
  The Food Bank lost one of its truest friends when Albert Herzstein 
passed away in March 1997. The son of Russian emigres, Albert Herzstein 
rose from truck driver and delivery boy to president of Big Three 
Industries. After his retirement, Mr. Herzstein began to build and 
lease warehouses. Through the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable 
Foundation set up by him and his late wife, Mr. Herzstein helped local 
charities, including the Houston Food Bank, that provide food, shelter, 
and education, focusing on the construction of buildings to house their 
work. His gift to purchase the Food Bank's current facility ended its 
four-and-a-half year quest for a permanent home and made possible a 
phenomenal growth in the numbers of people fed. Every can and box of 
food that moves through the Herzstein Center is a tribute to this 
generous couple.
  As the Houston Food Bank celebrates its fifteenth anniversary, its 
dedicated staff, volunteers, and supporters are looking as much to the 
future as to the past. In the words of Board President Jerome Pesek, 
``As we blow out the candles on the cake, our wish is still for a city 
without hunger.'' Mr. Speaker, I join the Houston Food Bank in 
rededicating our community to this goal, and I congratulate all 
involved for making so much progress toward achieving it.

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