[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6534]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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              RECOGNIZING MAUI ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, INC.

 Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I offer my congratulations to Maui 
Economic Opportunity, Inc. for 42 years of outstanding community 
service. A private, non-profit organization dedicated to helping 
individuals and families in need, MEO was chartered as a community 
action agency on March 22, 1965, by Federal mandate under the Economic 
Opportunity Act of 1964.
  For more than four decades, MEO has served the people of Maui, 
Moloka'i and Lana'i through a number of poverty fighting initiatives. 
By providing employment training and placement, business education for 
low income entrepreneurs, and micro-enterprise loans, MEO has helped 
countless citizens get back on the path to financial independence.
  Moreover, MEO has helped citizens lead fuller, richer lives by 
providing housekeeping for seniors, allowing them to remain in their 
homes, and providing specialized transportation for seniors, persons 
with disabilities and children to doctor's offices, grocery stores, and 
schools. In addition, they have helped former inmates reintegrate and 
become productive members of the community.
  The hard work and dedication of Maui Economic Opportunity's staff and 
volunteers have earned national recognition by receiving the 
prestigious Excellence in Community Action award from the Community 
Action Partnership. To this I would like to add my sincere appreciation 
for the tireless efforts of these men and women for their continued 
advocacy on behalf of those in need of a helping hand.

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