[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 22 (Friday, February 11, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E211]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CONGRATULATING MS. BARBARA ALLEN AS A WINNER OF THIS YEAR'S PURPOSE 
                                 PRIZE

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                        HON. ALLYSON Y. SCHWARTZ

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 11, 2011

  Ms. SCHWARTZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and congratulate Ms. 
Barbara Allen on the occasion of being named as a winner of the Purpose 
Prize. Ms. Allen was selected from over 1,000 applicants for her work 
raising funds for public school art programs.
  The Purpose Prize is an award given by Civic Ventures, a think-tank 
that focuses on work and social purpose. For the past five years the 
purpose prize has been given to 10 people, all age 60 and over, who 
have developed new ways to solve social problems. As individuals who 
have completed their mid-life careers, the winners of the purpose prize 
have all shown that social innovation is not the sole province of the 
young. Civic Ventures considered the Purpose Prize to be not a lifetime 
achievement award, but an investment in the future of the winner.
  Ms. Allen has won this award through her laudable efforts to maintain 
the arts in public schools. She is the founder and CEO of Fresh 
Artists, a nonprofit that has raised more than $100,000 benefiting 272 
Philadelphia public schools to the enrichment of over 53,000 children. 
Fresh Artists utilizes the creativity of our students to achieve the 
goal of funding the art programs that can help more students harness 
their own creativity. The organization invites students in grades K 
through 12 to donate their artwork to be used in large-scale 
reproductions. Fresh Artists then collects monetary donations from 
businesses and organizations who display the artwork in their 
buildings. The donations are then used to buy art supplies for 
Philadelphia's most under-resourced public schools. Since its founding 
in 2008, Fresh Artists has installed nearly 600 reproductions. Barbara 
Allen's vision and dedication to the arts have provided students with 
an opportunity to not only have their work displayed, but also to have 
their work contribute to the purchase of supplies that allow other 
students to produce further works of art.
  I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating Ms. Allen on this 
momentous occasion. Her dedication to the art will ensure that the 
students of Philadelphia's public schools continue to have access to 
the supplies that will allow them to fully realize their creative 
potential.

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