[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Page 21985]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA, DAKOTAS CELEBRATES 80 YEARS

 Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, it is with great honor that I rise 
today to congratulate the Volunteers of America, Dakotas in South 
Dakota, which celebrated its 80th anniversary celebration in August, 
2003.
  Volunteers of America, Dakotas is one of over forty affiliates making 
up a national network of nonprofit, spiritually based organizations 
providing local human service programs and creating opportunities for 
individual and community involvement. Nationally, Volunteers of America 
employs more than 11,000 people and each year more than 1.5 million 
people feel the helping hand of this organization.
  Began in the early 1920s, Volunteers of America, Sioux Falls was 
started as a prison ministry by Frank and Emma Tremont. However, the 
concerns of the couple were expanded when, during World War I, men went 
to war and women went to work, and childcare became a pressing need. In 
response, the organization opened a childcare center and soup kitchen. 
Over the years, the soup kitchen and prison ministry faded away, but 
quality childcare remained a service priority. It was the recent merger 
of this organization with another group, Turning Point, that formed 
Volunteers of America, Dakotas. Started as Project Threshold on 
September 16, 1972, Turning Point's original vision was a home for 
delinquent and runaway girls. Over its next 20 years, Project Threshold 
became a widely recognized leader in adolescent issues, treatment, and 
prevention services, Together, these two associations are now assisting 
more than 290 children each day.
  I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of the Volunteers 
of America-Dakotas Centers in South Dakota, including the Bollinger 
Center, Joe Foss School, Whittier Middle School, Thrift Store, and 
other Centers in Sioux Falls, SD; the Native Hope Center in Sisseton, 
SD; and the Volunteers of Americas, Dakotas Center in Aberdeen, SD. 
Headquartered in Sioux Falls, Volunteers of America, Dakotas serves 
over 12,000 individuals of all ages each year. Their mission, which is 
to assist people of all ages in stepping toward a brighter future, is 
one that all South Dakotans should strive to live by.
  I am proud to have this opportunity to honor the Volunteers of 
America-Dakotas for its 80 years of outstanding service. People of all 
ages need to think more about how we, as individual citizens, can work 
together at the local level to ensure the health and vitality of our 
towns and neighborhoods. I strongly commend the hard work and 
dedication of these Centers, and I am very pleased that their efforts 
are being publicly honored and celebrated. It is with great honor that 
I share their impressive accomplishments with my colleagues.

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