[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 48 (Thursday, March 22, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CELEBRATING THE SERVICE OF MS. SYLVIA WHEELING OF THE BALDWIN CENTER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. GARY C. PETERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 22, 2012

  Mr. PETERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute Ms. Sylvia Wheeling, 
Baldwin Center Director of Food Services, on the occasion of her 
retirement from the human service agency, located in the great city of 
Pontiac, Michigan.
  A 30-year volunteer at Baldwin Center, Sylvia Wheeling truly 
epitomizes what it means to be a dedicated servant to the community. In 
1981, as a member of the former Baldwin Avenue United Methodist Church, 
Sylvia was the first person to respond to her pastor's appeal to the 
church that it reach out to the surrounding community and be a good 
friend and neighbor. She started by cooking a few meals. Now, some 30 
years later, Sylvia manages a kitchen that served more than 65,000 
meals to men, women and children.
  Baldwin Center has grown significantly during Sylvia Wheeling's 
tenure there and she has been an integral volunteer dutifully 
supporting its many programs and services.
  As testament to her impact on the lives of many neighbors in the 
Pontiac community, one person recalled how a man, who was trying on a 
pair of pants at the center's Clothes Closet, had his size 13 pair of 
boots stolen from him. Within a half hour, a compassionate Sylvia had 
driven to a store and purchased a new pair for him.
  Another person remembered how Sylvia stayed in the Intensive Care 
Unit with a homeless woman until her father could be found.
  Similarly, others can recite many times when her influential presence 
defused conflicts, and how even when she had to be stern, Sylvia 
nonetheless showed grace under fire.
  In a December 31, 2009 Oakland Press feature story titled, ``Soup 
kitchen volunteer feels `blessed' '' Sylvia Wheeling said the 
following: ``I am very grateful I could be a part of that. I have been 
very blessed.''
  We are very grateful and blessed that she has shared her time, her 
talent and her treasure with Pontiac, Michigan's Baldwin Center for 30 
wonderful years.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues join me today in saluting and 
congratulating, Ms. Sylvia Wheeling, Director of Food Services at 
Baldwin Center of Pontiac Michigan. We wish her all the best in her 
well-deserved retirement.

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