[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 624]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATING SISTER ADRIAN BARRETT FOR A LIFETIME OF SERVICE TO THOSE 
IN NEED AND EXTENDING TO HER BEST WISHES FOR A WELL DESERVED RETIREMENT

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                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 13, 2009

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask you and my esteemed 
colleagues in the House of Representatives to pay tribute to Sister 
Adrian Barrett, IHM, an extraordinary woman whose capacity for caring 
for the poor is exceeded only by her selflessness and humility.
  Sister Adrian's remarkable career of service began in 1949 when she 
became a sister of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
  After her early years teaching at schools in Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
and New York and working summers in Scranton ministering to poor 
children, Sister Adrian and an old acquaintance, Monsignor Joseph P. 
Kelly, created Project Hope, a summer camp for underprivileged youths, 
first at Pius X Seminary at Dalton and later at Camp St. Andrew in 
Tunkhannock.
  Sister Adrian returned to Scranton permanently in 1976 to work full 
time with low income families at United Neighborhood Center's 
Progressive Center. She developed an annual Thanksgiving Dinner for the 
needy of the community, at first with 24 guests, now with more than 
2,000.
  In 1985, she established Friends of the Poor with the stated 
objective of bringing together ``those who can give with those who have 
a need to receive.''
  Over the years, Sister Adrian has become a hero in the Scranton area, 
providing food, clothing, furniture and healthcare education and 
assistance to those in need and sponsoring an annual educational trip 
to Washington, DC, for underprivileged children.
  Mrs. Mary Lou Burne, one who has worked with and knows Sister Adrian 
well, observed recently that ``She's the heart of the poor in Scranton. 
She feels what they feel. She cries when they cry.''
  Retired local banking executive David Tressler, who has done 
volunteer work with Sister Adrian for more than 25 years, said she 
inspires with her unflagging, round-the-clock commitment to the poor 
and is not bashful about asking those with means to assist those 
without.
  ``She is a unique individual,'' Mr. Tressler said. ``She has time for 
anybody and everybody.''
  Now, as she approaches the age of 80, she has decided it is time to 
retire and hand her incredible work to a successor, Sister Maryalice 
Jacquinot, IHM.
  Sister Adrian once observed that the highest compliment anyone could 
pay her is to acknowledge that she tried to love and serve the poor 
and, in so doing, loved and served God.
  Madam Speaker, please join me in congratulating Sister Adrian Barrett 
who truly has loved and served the poor and, in so doing, has improved 
the quality of life for countless souls and has inspired all of us to a 
heightened awareness of our calling to help our fellow man.

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