Congressional Hunger Center Awards Ceremony
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CONGRESSIONAL HUNGER CENTER Congressional Hunger Center Awards Ceremony CELEBRATE ACCOMPLISHMENTS HONOR LEADERS RECOGNIZE OUR PARTNERS Tuesday, June 24, 2014 U.S. Botanic Garden #WeFightHunger Fighting Hunger by Developing Leaders About The Congressional Hunger Center The Congressional Hunger Center (CHC) is a bipartisan, nonprofit organization, located in Washington, DC. We administer the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellows Program and the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows Program, named in honor of these two late Congressional leaders who dedicated their careers to fighting hunger and poverty. The Fellowship programs are a unique leadership development opportunity for motivated individuals seeking to make a difference in the struggle to eliminate hunger and poverty in the U.S. and around the world. We serve as a center where the anti-hunger community can discuss and imple- ment creative policy solutions to end domestic and international hunger. CHC has created partnerships with Members of Congress, and Hill staff who focus on hunger and poverty, the Executive branch of government, private sector com- panies, foundations, and hundreds of hunger fighting organizations throughout the U.S. and around the world. Mission Statement CHC trains and inspires leaders who work to end hunger, and advocates public policies that create a food secure world. Vision Statement CHC is a leader in the movement to ensure access to food as a basic human right for all people. We create and nurture a community of innovative and inspiring leaders who act as change agents, bridging the gap between grassroots efforts and national and international public policy to provide access to nutritious, afford- able and culturally appropriate food. Tonight, we will tweet using the hashtag #WeFightHunger. Join the conversation on Twitter by posting photos, comments and videos using this hashtag. Selected tweets will be displayed on the big screens near the stage. Contact Us Congressional Hunger Center Hall of the States Building 400 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite G100 Washington, DC 20001 (202) 547-7022 www.hungercenter.org @HungerCenter CHC was founded in 1993 by U.S. Representatives Tony Hall, Bill Emerson and Frank Wolf. Today, Representative James P. McGovern is the Chair of CHC’s Board of Directors. 2 Congressional Hunger Center Awards Ceremony June 24, 2014 U.S. Botanic Garden 100 Maryland Ave, SW Washington, DC #WeFightHunger Follow CHC on Twitter @HungerCenter 3 Welcome and Program Welcome In gratitude to all those who support the fight against hunger, CHC Board Chair, Representative James P. McGovern, welcomes you to the 8th Annual Congressional Hunger Center Awards Ceremony, an evening to celebrate and honor exemplary leaders working to end hunger and poverty in the U.S. and around the world. Program Welcome and Recognition of Sponsors and CHC Hunger Fellows Marshall Matz CHC Board Secretary Edward M. Cooney CHC Executive Director Awards Ceremony Harvester Sponsors: Monsanto and Walmart Michael Dykes Vice President of Government Affairs, Monsanto Theresa Wang Senior Manager of Federal Government Relations, Walmart Presentation of The Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland Hunger Leadership Awards Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture Presented by Representative James P. McGovern on behalf of CHC Board Deborah A. Frank, MD Presented by Kimberly Perry on behalf of CHC Board Presentation of CHC Board Appreciation Award Jo Ann Emerson, Member of Congress, Retired Presented by Katharine Emerson and Representative James P. McGovern on behalf of CHC Board Presentation of CHC Alumni Leadership Awards Shane Murphy Goldsmith Presented by Ambassador Tony P. Hall Damiana Astudillo Presented by Representative Sheila Jackson Lee 4 Distinguished Honorees The Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland Hunger Leadership Awards This evening we celebrate the dedication of two exemplary leaders in the fight to end hunger and poverty. Our distinguished honorees have been chosen for their significant contributions to fighting hunger in the United States and overseas. They embody the determination necessary to make hunger and poverty a focal point of U.S. policy at home and globally. We thank them for their work in the past, and Marty LaVor know they will continue to inspire others in the ongoing fight against hunger! Past Honorees 2013 2009 • Senator John Boozman • Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr. • Representative Sam Farr • Senator Thad Cochran • Senator Herb Kohl 2012 • Representative Donald Payne • Senator Roy Blunt • Senator Dick Durbin 2008 • Representative Jo Ann Emerson • Representative Rosa DeLauro • Representative James P. McGovern • Senator Tom Harkin • Representative Frank Wolf 2011 • Representative Betty McCollum 2005 • Senator Jerry Moran • Senator Elizabeth Dole • Dan Glickman, Former Secretary of 2010 Agriculture • Representative John Lewis • Ambassador Tony P. Hall • Senator Richard Lugar The CHC Board Appreciation Award Presented by the CHC Board in recognition of an exceptional colleague and Board member whose dedication and outstanding service on behalf of CHC has made a significant and lasting contribution to CHC’s unique leadership develop- ment mission. The CHC Alumni Leadership Awards Tonight, we will present awards to alumni from each of our fellowship programs who have continued to promote food security in the U.S. and around the world. We honor their outstanding accomplishments and thank them for their dedication. 5 Distinguished Honorees Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack serves as the nation’s 30th Secretary of Agriculture. As leader of the Department of Agriculture, Vilsack is working to provide a safe, sufficient and nutritious food supply for the American people; support America’s farmers, ranchers and growers who are driving the rural economy forward; and carry out record conservation efforts. Under Vilsack’s leadership, USDA has partnered with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative to improve the health and nutrition of America’s children. The Secretary helped pass and implement the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, historic legislation that for the first time in 30 years made real reforms to the school meals programs, which serve 31 million children across the country. USDA also works with more than 5,000 community sponsors to fill the summer meal gap and last year served more than 168 million meals to low-income children through its summer meals programs. USDA also helps ensure the good health of mothers and children through the WIC program, which serves about half of all babies born in the United States. Under Vilsack, USDA has made historic improvements to the variety of healthy food offered in the program and increased support for breastfeeding and nutrition education. Through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), USDA has helped millions of hardworking families put food on the table as they get back on their feet. More than half of SNAP recipients are children and the elderly, and more than 42% of recipients live in households where at least one person is working. USDA has undertaken major efforts to improve the healthfulness of SNAP purchases, protect the taxpayer investment in the program, and provide stronger employment and training services to help recipients find work and move off the program. A stronger economy appears to be helping slow and reverse the trend of rising participation. Prior to his appointment, Vilsack served two terms as the Governor of Iowa, in the Iowa State Senate, and as the Mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. 6 Distinguished Honorees Deborah A. Frank, MD Dr. Frank attended Radcliffe College, graduating summa cum laude in 1970. She then became a social work assistant in the Lead Poisoning clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital and worked with community groups to develop the Massachusetts Lead Paint Law. In 1976, she graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed her residency at Children’s Orthopedic Hospital in Seattle, Washington. Strongly interested in child development, she served as a fellow at Children’s Hospital in Boston under Dr. T. Berry Brazelton. She began work at Boston City Hospital (now Boston Medical Center) in 1981. In 1984, she founded the Failure to Thrive Program, now the Grow Clinic for Children, at Boston Medical Center. In the 1980s, Dr. Frank and her staff started a small food and clothing pantry to serve Grow Clinic patients, after finding that families lacked financial resources to provide the high-quality diet needed for children’s recovery of growth and health. The first hospital-based food pantry in the country, it now is open to all patients, serving 7,000 patients and family members each month. In 1998, she founded Children’s HealthWatch (formerly Children’s Sentinel Nutrition Assessment Program, C-SNAP). With colleagues across the country she is a principal investigator in this effort to produce non-partisan, original, and policy-relevant research on the health of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Children’s HealthWatch seeks to improve young children’s health and develop- ment, informing policies that address and alleviate family economic hardships. Dr. Frank has written numerous scientific articles. Her work has focused on breastfeeding promotion, nutrition among homeless pregnant women and children, Failure to Thrive, food insecurity, and the “heat or eat” phenomenon. A respected authority in her fields, Dr. Frank frequently gives testimony to state and federal legislative committees on hunger and associated hardships in the U.S. and its effects