[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16562]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING CURTIS M. LOFITS, JR., AND THE SALUDA CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 28, 2006

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my 
longtime friend, Curtis M. Lofits, Jr., and the Saluda Charitable 
Foundation. The Saluda Charitable Foundation was founded in 2001 in 
Columbia, South Carolina, is a faith-based Christian humanitarian 
organization dedicated to serving people in need. What began as a one-
man effort created and funded by Columbia native Curtis M. Loftis, Jr., 
has now grown to include dozens of volunteers and associates who have 
touched thousands of lives across four continents.
  Individuals, missionaries, churches, hospitals, and clinics ranging 
from the United States and Bolivia to Ukraine and India have benefited 
from the works of Saluda Charitable. The Foundation's efforts in 
Ukraine produced such great success that the programs there have grown 
into a stand-alone Ukrainian organization, the Saluda-Temopil 
Charitable Foundation. Saluda-Temopil has been recognized as one of the 
finest charitable groups in Ukraine.
  Saluda Charitable and Saluda-Temopil recently opened the doors of 
their largest undertaking, the New Hope Village, in Shelpachy, Ukraine. 
The New Hope Village is a modem humanitarian mercy center that features 
a home for the elderly with 24-hour nursing care, daily doctor visits, 
nutritionist consultations, and community activity programs. The 
facility has received praise and cooperation from the Ukrainian and 
United States Governments.
  The New Hope Village also features a community center that supports 
three local villages and a humanitarian aid focal point that dispenses 
assistance from agencies and churches from the United States and 
Europe. The facility will soon become home to one of Ukraine's first 
``foster family'' pilot programs. This project opens in August and 
seeks to alter the traditional system of large and unfriendly 
government orphanages in favor of more traditional family structures.
  I would like to recognize the Saluda Charitable Foundation's 
contributions and efforts for people in need everywhere. The foundation 
is an excellent example that goodwill knows no borders. We would all do 
well to follow their lead.

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