[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 26 (Friday, February 26, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S817-S818]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             RECOGNIZING THE CABBAGE PATCH SETTLEMENT HOUSE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, when the great-great granddaughter of 
U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall established a safe place for 
Louisville's troubled and indigent children in 1910, few perhaps could 
have imagined the impact her actions would make a century later. Yet as 
The Cabbage Patch Settlement House celebrates its centennial year, the 
contributions of its alumni to our community and Nation will stand as 
Louise Marshall's legacy for another 100 years.
  Named after the 1901 best-selling novel, ``Mrs. Wiggs and the Cabbage 
Patch,'' which was written by fellow Louisvillian Alice Hegan Rice, The 
Patch now serves 1,100 children and their families through a variety of 
education and counseling programs. Included among its alumni are: an 
NFL Super Bowl coach, public officials and community leaders, military 
officers, teachers, coaches, firefighters, and police officers. 
Thousands of alumni credit their involvement with The Cabbage Patch as 
a critical factor in their development of strong values and strong 
faith.
  The Louisville Courier-Journal recently recounted the impact this 
institution has had on my home city, and I ask unanimous consent that 
the full article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From the Louisville Courier-Journal, 
                             Feb. 15, 2010]

               The Cabbage Patch: A Beacon for 100 Years

                          (By Larry Muhammad)

       Sherman Lewis won Super Bowl rings coaching for the San 
     Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers, was a college football 
     All-American at Michigan State University and finished third 
     in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy in 1963.
       The duPont Manual High School graduate partly credits his 
     career success to the character-building sportsmanship he 
     learned as a teenager at Cabbage Patch Settlement House, 
     which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
       ``My first year there, in the ninth grade, I even won a 
     turkey trot,'' said Lewis, most

[[Page S818]]

     recently an offensive consultant for the Washington Redskins. 
     ``They had a big turkey in a crate, and you had to run to get 
     it, but I won that race going away. I had never run that fast 
     in my life, but we had a lot of mouths to feed in our family 
     and nobody was going to catch me.
       ``And Cabbage Patch was the first time I ever played on an 
     integrated team,'' he said. ``They had great coaches there, 
     great role models, and I think that's part of the reason I 
     went into coaching. I owe that place a lot.''
       Founded in 1910 to help troubled and indigent children, the 
     nonprofit Christian agency now serves 1,100 children and 
     their families through recreation, education and counseling 
     programs. It recently launched a yearlong birthday observance 
     that includes an alumni reunion (date and place yet to be 
     announced).
       ``We are having a series of birthday parties with some of 
     our partner churches this spring,'' said Cabbage Patch 
     spokeswoman Angela Hagan. ``We had one at Highland 
     Presbyterian Jan. 10. We will be at Southeast Christian Feb. 
     21, and several others are scheduled. Our golf fundraiser at 
     Valhalla (Golf Club) on July 12 will have a 1910 twist--think 
     attire, for one example--and our auction event Sept. 23 at 
     the Muhammad Ali Center will be a big birthday party. On 
     Sept. 25 we celebrate in our own neighborhood (1413 S. Sixth 
     St., Old Louisville) as a beneficiary of the St. James Art 
     Show Gala.''
       A function of the art show's philanthropic arm, the St. 
     James Court Charitable Foundation, the gala previously has 
     benefited Kosair Charities and the Louisville Orchestra.
       ``This year, we decided to do the Cabbage Patch,'' said Don 
     Keeling, the Louisville businessman and president of the St. 
     James Court Association who, as a youth, played after-school 
     sports there. ``They raised a substantial amount of money for 
     their renovation, but they still have more to go so we're 
     going to help them retire some of that debt.''
       The centennial year of The Patch, as it has become known 
     over the years, happily coincides with completion of the 
     $7.5-million structural upgrade to its Sixth Street 
     facilities, including a renovated gymnasium, kitchen and 
     classrooms, plus 19,000 square feet of new construction 
     adding a glass breezeway between buildings and a two-story 
     carriage house.
       Also, starting Friday, Blue Sky Kentucky, the nonprofit 
     group promoting appreciation of American roots music, is 
     launching an education component that ties into ongoing music 
     instruction at The Patch. ``Our objective is to bring the art 
     and business end of music directly to the kids,'' said Greg 
     Handy, a Blue Sky Kentucky founder. ``Once a month, artists 
     will come give a brief performance, talk to the kids about 
     what it means to be a professional, working musician, and how 
     they got where they are now. We've developed a syllabus that 
     covers the art of songwriting and also the business of 
     music.''
       Formerly an 8th Ward alderman who grew up in Old 
     Louisville, Handy remembers hanging out at The Patch, he 
     says, ``probably starting at 8 or 9 years old until the time 
     I got my driver's license. I would meet friends there after 
     school, and actually played a little softball for them. Our 
     family was a lot more fortunate than others in the 
     neighborhood. And The Patch was a place where children could 
     go, be safe and learn life's lessons--just a great place.''
       For as long as anyone can remember, Cabbage Patch 
     Settlement House has been a beacon of hope to inner-city kids 
     and their families.
       During the 1937 flood, when the Ohio River submerged 70 
     percent of Louisville and forced 175,000 people from their 
     homes, The Patch, which was situated on the edge of an 
     irregularly shaped dry area, became a refuge for dislocated 
     residents and a clearinghouse for food, clothes and other 
     necessities. It underwent a major program expansion after 
     World War II, adding a game room, various athletic programs, 
     adult activities, and dances. During the 1950s it began one 
     of Louisville's first private desegregation initiatives that 
     by 1963 encompassed the entire operation.
       During its early years, founder Louise Marshall often 
     scoured the surrounding neighborhood for troubled and less 
     fortunate children, promoting the value of education and 
     inviting them to the Patch. Although from a well-to-do 
     family--her great-great grandfather was U.S. Chief Justice 
     John Marshall--Marshall as a young woman taught a 
     neighborhood Bible school class, felt compelled to help the 
     poor and was influenced by the success of places like 
     Chicago's Hull House to help the less fortunate. She based 
     Cabbage Patch's founding principles on the biblical 
     injunction for charity in the Book of Matthew: ``For I was 
     hungry and you gave me something to eat: I was thirsty and 
     you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you 
     invited me in; I was naked and you clothed me.''
       The agency was named for a neighborhood running along 
     tracks of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, inhabited by 
     L&N workers and truck gardeners growing cabbages--thus the 
     Cabbage Patch. The area was immortalized in a sentimental 
     best-selling 1901 novel, ``Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch,'' 
     by Louisville writer Alice Hegan Rice.
       Today, it has the legacy of Marshall, who died in 1981, and 
     the example of dedication set by the late Roosevelt Chin, 
     longtime family services director, whose ashes are buried at 
     center court in the renovated gym named in his honor.
       It has programs like the vegetable-growing and cooking 
     initiative From Seed to Table, begun by Kathy Cary, chef/
     owner of Lilly's Bistro. It consistently turns out winning 
     produce at the Kentucky State Fair, taking second place last 
     year for Roma tomatoes, cabbage and corn, and 10 first-place 
     ribbons in 2000, including best hot pepper collection.
       It has volunteers extraordinaire such as Lea Fischbach, who 
     in 2007 received the President's Volunteer Service Award from 
     President George W. Bush for her 11 years and more than 4,000 
     hours of charity work.
       ``Those who participated in our programs tell the story of 
     our mission,'' the agency's executive director, the Rev. 
     Tracy Holladay, said in a statement. ``When we celebrate 100 
     years of service, we're celebrating the hope and potential of 
     all those who have come through our doors, past and present, 
     and those who will come in the next 100 years.''

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