[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 22 (Monday, February 22, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF OUR DAILY BREAD

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                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 22, 2010

  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
Our Daily Bread, and to congratulate them on their 25 years of service 
to the community.
  Our Daily Bread is a volunteer-based organization dedicated to 
providing critical services to families and individuals suffering from 
financial hardship. Through robust community support from local faith-
based groups, community organizations, local businesses, schools and 
universities, Our Daily Bread has grown to provide food, financial 
literacy education and assistance, school supplies, and holiday cheer 
to thousands of people in our area.
  Our Daily Bread's mission is to identify and address the unmet 
fundamental needs of Fairfax area residents, and to empower the 
community to help our neighbors maintain self-sufficiency. This mission 
of sustainability and self-sufficiency evolved from humble beginnings. 
Our Daily Bread was founded in 1984 as a temporary homeless shelter 
that rotated among several area churches. When Fairfax County opened a 
county-run shelter in the Reston area, Our Daily Bread refocused its 
energies on feeding the homeless and opened a soup kitchen to serve 
those most in need. Recognizing the difficulties faced by those patrons 
unable to benefit from this service, Our Daily Bread again reinvented 
itself first by delivering sandwiches made by volunteers and later to 
delivering supplemental groceries directly to homeless families who 
were living in motels along Route 50 in Fairfax.
  Our Daily Bread has a history of being dynamic in the face of 
changing demographics. Beginning in the 1990's and largely fueled by 
the high cost of rental housing, a new urgent need emerged. Families 
who were not homeless, families in which one or both parents were often 
juggling multiple jobs, were finding themselves unable to meet their 
basic needs and were just one crisis away from homelessness. Our Daily 
Bread rose to meet this challenge and began a program offering 
emergency financial assistance in the form of a modest one-time grant 
of up to $350.00. More recently, Our Daily Bread expanded their 
services to provide financial mentoring, a back to school program and 
holiday meals and gifts. It is a testament to talent and commitment of 
the volunteers, staff, and supporters who make Our Daily Bread what it 
is today; an organization with the foresight and readiness to take on 
new problems, while continuing to deliver on core initiatives.
  Today, Our Daily Bread provides critical services to the elderly, the 
working poor, the disabled and the homeless in the Fairfax area. In 
2009, Our Daily Bread provided food assistance to 345 families, a 73% 
increase from the previous year. In addition, 279 families benefited 
from financial assistance and over 100 families took part in financial 
literacy training and mentoring. Nearly 3,800 families were served by 
the holiday program, and 350 children received supplies for school. 
Over half of those assisted by our Daily Bread's program were children.
  Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in paying tribute to 
Our Daily Bread for their commitment to the community. I would also to 
express my sincere gratitude to the volunteers and staff who contribute 
their time and energy and also to the Fairfax area business community 
for the support they provide to this worthwhile cause.

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