[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 22, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1693]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      HONORING MS. ESSIE ``BIG MAMA'' REED AS A TRUE AMERICAN HERO

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 22, 2010

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Ms. 
Essie ``Big Mama'' Reed for her outstanding contributions to the Ft. 
Lauderdale community. Big Mama stands apart as an exemplary citizen and 
living testimony to compassion and generosity.
  Big Mama's impact on Ft. Lauderdale began in 1988. When her youngest 
son was just a month old, Big Mama's husband abandoned the family, 
leaving them homeless. For the next three years, Big Mama and her three 
sons slept on the concrete floor of the fish market she owned. Despite 
being destitute and unable to provide her sons with such basic things 
as school supplies, Big Mama and her boys regularly prayed after school 
at the Royal Assembly Church.
  It is her triumph over personal adversity that inspired Big Mama to 
begin a crusade of personal outreach. Realizing how fortunate she was 
to have caring neighbors who provided her and her sons with basic 
needs, Big Mama decided to give back by helping at-risk youth avoid the 
common street predators of drugs, gangs, and prostitution.
  In the early 1990s, Big Mama solidified a values-based approach that, 
when coupled with her uncommon bravery in the face of long odds, has 
helped keep over 1,300 area youth on a promising path.
  Big Mama's contribution has been particularly meaningful to the Ft. 
Lauderdale School System. With scores of students who come from 
disadvantaged backgrounds, Big Mama provides personal afterschool care 
and guidance for students who might not get the attention they need at 
home. Big Mama also holds popular ``shut-ins'' four times a year at her 
church, where local school children are exposed to a ``selfless passion 
for excellence in education and social advancement'' through self-
reliance. All this prompted Rhoda Gawlowski, assistant principal at New 
River Middle School, to say of Big Mama: ``I have never, ever met a 
person like her. She helps everyone in our school: the children, the 
parents, members of the community. I don't know how she does it, but 
she manages to find time to spend with every student who seeks her 
out.''
  Big Mama's commitment to service, however, is not limited to Ft. 
Lauderdale Schools. After Hurricane Wilma devastated Florida in 2005, 
leaving residents without power and food, Big Mama made sure everybody 
had something to eat. And I mean everybody. Working together with local 
leaders, Big Mama was able to secure enough donations to personally 
cook for 1,000 low-income residents in a week. All of this from a woman 
who recently faced her second bout with homelessness because her 
house--what people in Ft. Lauderdale refer to as a sanctuary--did not 
meet local code with its leaky roof covered, in some parts, with a 
plastic tarp.
  Big Mama also founded the Team of Life, a Ft. Lauderdale nonprofit, 
to allow her personal outreach efforts to reach even more people in her 
community. The organization regularly organizes charitable drives 
during the holiday and back-to-school seasons with great success. In 
addition to an annual turkey drive that collects turkeys for needy 
families--20,000 in 2009 alone--so that they may enjoy the Thanksgiving 
holiday, Big Mama organizes an annual health drive to immunize local 
children whose families otherwise could not afford such vital care.
  Through it all, Big Mama has never asked for recognition. All she 
wants is for Ft. Lauderdale children to experience the reality of a 
better tomorrow. Because of such uncommon grace, compassion, and 
generosity, I stand before you, Madam Speaker, to recognize Ms. Essie 
``Big Mama'' Reed as a true American hero.

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