[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 52 (Monday, March 26, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      A TRIBUTE TO JOYCE McDONALD

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 26, 2007

  Mr. TOWNS. I rise today to pay tribute to Brooklyn resident Joyce 
McDonald. Joyce McDonald was born to parents Willie and Florence 
McDonald and raised in Brooklyn's Farragut Houses. Joyce is the third 
eldest of seven children. She was reared in a household where 
unconditional love was practiced and family values were instilled.
  Joyce attended P.S. 287, Sands JHS 265 as well as Fashion Industry 
High School. Her love and compassion for people led her to become a 
volunteer at Cumberland Hospital as a Junior Nurse's Aide at 16-years-
old for the terminally ill. Joyce's teenaged years were not always so 
hopeful.
  During her teen years into adulthood, Joyce made many bad choices. 
Thirty years afterward, she changed direction. Joyce has survived 
various forms of mental and physical abuses which include rape, 
attempted suicide, depression and a 25-year heroin addiction. In 1995, 
Joyce tested positive for HIV and was later diagnosed with AIDS.
  Despite her diagnosis, Joyce continued to share her life's story and 
artistic talents with the world.
  Without any formal art training, Joyce McDonald is currently a world 
renowned artist. Her work has been exhibited in galleries, schools, 
universities, shelters, nursing homes and hospitals. Her testimony and 
art has been shared throughout the country via the media.
  Joyce has received numerous awards, including: the 2002 Martin Luther 
King, Jr. Service Award, the 2003 Church of the Open Door Woman of the 
Year Award, the 2004 Isler's Award from the Women's Empowerment 
Movement, and the 2004 Governor's Citation from Maryland. In 2005, 
Joyce was one of nine Magnificent Women of Brooklyn honored by Senator 
Velmanette Montgomery and received a citation from the New York 
Assembly. She has also received the Dr. Martin Luther King Award from 
Emmanuel Baptist Church.
  Joyce McDonald's talents include being an artist, sculptress, 
designer, writer, singer, poet and motivational speaker. These are 
talents she attributes to her family, including her Dad who is now 
deceased, her Mother, her two married daughters and their spouses and 
her six grandchildren.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to recognize the impressive achievements 
of this extraordinary individual, who through her own pain found it 
within herself to help others.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to 
this wonderful person and her creative works.

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