[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Page 24946]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                         TRIBUTE TO LAURA RHEA

 Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, it is with great pleasure that 
today I honor and recognize more than 25 years of service by Laura Rhea 
to our great State of Arkansas. Laura has served the Arkansas Rice 
Depot with steadfast leadership as President and CEO, ensuring the 
organization remained a faith-based ministry and developing innovative 
solutions to ending hunger.
  Hunger and poverty are not just global issues; they are so pervasive 
that we all have some experience with them in our local communities. 
Worldwide, three billion people, nearly half the world's population, 
live on merely $2 per day. In our Nation alone, almost 36.2 million 
Americans struggle day in and day out to find adequate nutritious food. 
More than 12.4 million children live in households that are food 
insecure. According to the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, 
approximately 80 percent of supplemental nutrition assistance goes to 
households with children, many of them in working families, including 
military families.
  In Arkansas, Laura Rhea has been making a difference to reduce those 
figures. Under her leadership, Arkansas Rice Depot has grown from a 
small hunger program that distributed only rice, to a comprehensive 
hunger agency that distributes almost 7 million pounds of food and 
supplies in Arkansas each year.
  Laura grew up in North Little Rock. As a child she dreamed of 
becoming a missionary, but never dreamed that her mission field would 
be feeding hungry Arkansans. She is a certified volunteer manager and 
was recognized as a certified fund raising executive in 1995.
  Laura developed Food for Kids, a backpack program serving over 600 
schools in Arkansas, sending home backpacks of food to over 25,000 
students who face food insecurity. This program has been recognized by 
the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and has been replicated in over 40 
States.
  Laura also developed Simple Pleasures, a gourmet gift shop that sells 
the Rice Depot line of soup and chili mixes. Proceeds from the gift 
shop are used to purchase food for Rice Depot's hunger relief efforts.
  Faith is an important part of Laura's life. In 2003, Laura suffered a 
heatstroke unloading a truck. Although she would continue to serve her 
life's mission from a wheelchair, she is not limited by her disability. 
She often quotes Psalms 37:11 to sum up her life, ``Delight yourself in 
the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.''
  And last but certainly not least, Laura's family--her husband Don, 
daughter Allison, and four grandchildren are not only inspirations for 
her but also stalwart supporters. In fact, her daughter Allison shares 
her mother's mission and has served the Rice Depot for the past 12 
years. In addition, Laura's granddaughter worked there over the summer, 
bringing three generations of her family to the effort to wipe out 
hunger.
  As you can see, Laura Rhea is a generous, compassionate, and 
dedicated individual. So as Rice Depot celebrates its 27th year of 
progress in finding sensible solutions to hunger in Arkansas, I salute 
The Rice Depot, its staff, the many volunteers, and especially Laura 
Rhea for their commitment to feeding those who hunger in 
Arkansas.

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