[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 70 (Thursday, May 7, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       HONORING ALICE T. MOSINIAK

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 7, 2009

  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the passing from 
this life of Alice T. Mosiniak, the founder of Toledo Seagate Food 
Bank, which over the years has helped countless people in need. Alice 
was Toledo office director in the 1970s of the National Association for 
Human Development, which trained senior citizens who were jobless and 
often alone. ``I took it for granted that everyone ate,'' Mrs. 
Mosiniak, who lived in South Toledo, told the Toledo Blade in 1993. She 
asked 50 seniors to bring a lunch to a meeting. ``Only two brought a 
lunch and one of those was a mashed potato sandwich, and the other 
person brought a bean sandwich. And that's how I found out they were 
all hungry.'' She scrounged and bought food for them. ``Her heart was 
compassion and caring for others,'' said her daughter, Deborah Vas, 
food bank executive director since 1998. ``She just truly believed and 
taught us you need to care about your neighbors''
  The Toledo Seagate Food Bank began in 1980 after Alice saw what 
seniors ate--or didn't eat. Migrant farm workers in Lucas County were 
among the first fed, said Virginia Ortega, a member of the Ohio 
advisory committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. ``Her life 
enhanced the quality of life of many northwest Ohioans in ways many 
people I don't think even realize,'' she said.
  Mrs. Mosiniak enlisted local officials and business leaders in the 
project. ``She'd tell them exactly what she needed and wanted and say, 
`Either you're going to help or you're not.' And who's not going to 
help a neighbor or friend?'' Ms. Debbie Vas said. Added Harvey Savage, 
Jr.: ``When she set her mind on getting something, she was able to get 
it. We have people who are chronically underemployed, who are always 
going to need help.'' Mr. Savage is board president of the Martin 
Luther King, Jr. Kitchen for the Poor, founded by his father, the Rev. 
Harvey Savage. ``She saw it at a time when we were trying to sweep that 
under the rug.''
  When I first encountered Alice more than 25 years ago, she was 
passionately piecing together the elements of what would become the 
Toledo Seagate Food Bank. Her enthusiasm and deep commitment to those 
who had fallen on hard times was unforgettable, and infectious. She was 
indefatigable. Enlisting the most unlikely coalition of supporters--
from pugnacious property owners to willing donors to amazed farmers to 
selfless volunteers and grassroots supporters, from all walks of life--
she built a vanguard institution from scratch, one that had never 
existed before. Year by year, its reputation earned respect and 
admiration across our region, Ohio, and the nation. Millions of meals, 
and other household necessities, have been made possible for three 
decades precisely because this incredible, inspired woman reached 
beyond herself to help others, at no cost to them. She sought no 
recognition. So let America acclaim her now and express its gratitude 
and acclaim for her noble efforts, truly a citizen of extraordinary 
proportion.
  She grew up at Detroit Avenue and Vance Street in Toledo. She 
attended Libbey High School, the former Harriet Whitney Vocational High 
School, and the former Mary Manse College. She and her husband, 
Alphonse ``Bill'' Mosiniak, formed a company that built houses in South 
Toledo and Perrysburg. They married May 25, 1945. He died July 8, 1966. 
Surviving are her daughters, Debbie Vas and Mindy Rapp; son, Douglas; 
brother, Richard Williams, and six grandchildren.
  It is with the deepest admiration that I pay tribute to the exemplary 
life of this pioneering woman. She dedicated her life in service to her 
family, friends, and the poor and hungry of our region. May her family 
be comforted by the loving memories they hold and may Alice Mosiniak be 
blessed with a loving peace.

                          ____________________