[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 160 (Wednesday, December 14, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H11511]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   TRIBUTE TO JAMES HOLMES, JR., SECOND HARVEST VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR

  (Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. James Holmes, 
Jr., for being named America's Second Harvest Food Bank 2005 Volunteer 
of the Year.
  Mr. Holmes is the founder of the community garden at the Children's 
Home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. For the past 7 years, he used 
land at the Children's Home to grow 70,000 pounds of fresh produce to 
feed the hungry.
  When Mr. Holmes started this project at age 76, he had never planted 
a seed in his life. Nevertheless, he pursued this project with a 
passion. As a former board member at the Children's Home, he convinced 
them to donate 3 acres for the garden and to allow staff to assist with 
the farm equipment.
  Mr. Holmes is to be commended for his tremendous efforts. He raised 
the start-up funding to purchase supplies, recruited and trained 
hundreds of volunteers, and invested thousands of dollars of his own 
money to buy a tractor and build a storage building and irrigation 
system. Each year, he organizes the planting of the garden, schedules 
people to volunteer twice a week and joins the crews that work through 
the hot summer months and into the fall harvest.
  It is an honor to have compassionate, caring, and hardworking people 
like James Holmes, Jr., in the Fifth District.

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