HJ493: Commending Kenneth C. Horne, Jr.

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 493
Offered February 26, 2008
Commending Kenneth C. Horne, Jr.
Patrons-- Putney and Byron; Senator: Newman

WHEREAS, the Reverend Kenneth C. Horne, Jr., the outstanding executive director and cofounder of the Society of St. Andrew, will retire on May 1, 2008; and

WHEREAS, Kenneth Horne has worked for over 28 years to “feed the hungry people of America and to help put them on an equal footing with their fellow citizens”; and

WHEREAS, Kenneth Horne’s vision is that of a world without hunger and a citizenry that treats its fellow man with “mercy and justice”; and

WHEREAS, Kenneth Horne was born on April 26, 1946, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island; served his country for two years in the United States Army, including one year in Vietnam; graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in geology in l968; earned a master’s degree in business administration from the College of William and Mary in 1971; and attended Duke Divinity School and graduated from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary with a master of divinity degree in 1976; and

WHEREAS, United Methodist ministers Kenneth Horne, and his wife Jean, and Ray Buchanan, and his wife Marian, along with their children, decided to purchase a 175-year-old farm in an area known as “Sweet Hollow” in Bedford County; and

WHEREAS, in 1979, the two young families established a community in Big Island, Virginia, and together with other families that settled in the town committed themselves to living a Christian life and serving others; and

WHEREAS, the Hornes and the Buchanans helped start Gunstock Creek Natural Foods Co-op in Bedford County, and the members of the Society of St. Andrew conducted workshops for church groups on responsible living, food waste, and how equitable distribution of excess food could solve the problem of hunger in America; and

WHEREAS, in 1983, the Society of St. Andrew’s landmark Potato Project was born when a Virginia Eastern Shore potato farmer offered to donate a pickup truck load of potatoes from his field to feed the hungry and that offer quickly turned into 13 tractor-trailer loads of potatoes donated by fellow farmers; and

WHEREAS, other groundbreaking Society of St. Andrew’s missions soon followed, including Harvest of Hope, a religious retreat and work-study program, which began in 1985; the national Gleaning Network, a program in which volunteers salvage food from the fields for people in need, which began in 1988; and Hunters for the Hungry, a wild game gleaning program, which began in 1991 and has since become an independent nonprofit organization; and

WHEREAS, today, with 44 gleaning offices in 22 states and the aid of tens of thousands of hardworking volunteer gleaners, the Society of St. Andrew is a highly effective and efficient, nondenominational, nonprofit hunger relief ministry that attempts to utilize the 96 billion pounds of food that would otherwise go to waste each year to help feed the 35 million Americans living in poverty and at risk of hunger; and

WHEREAS, Kenneth Horne has been instrumental in bringing the issue of national hunger to the forefront of the public consciousness, including through the Society of St. Andrew’s co-sponsorship of a National Hunger Summit held in Washington, D.C., as well as support of the Farm Bill in 2002; his testimony before a Congressional subcommittee on gleaning as a source of food for the poor in 2001; and through the society’s co-sponsorship of a Hunger Summit in 1999, which brought together leaders from government, nonprofits, businesses, and churches to explore ways to unite in their cause to alleviate hunger nationwide; and

WHEREAS, an authority on the national problem of hunger, Kenneth Horne has received many awards and accolades over the years for his outstanding service and invaluable contributions; and

WHEREAS, an inspirational leader and role model and knowledgeable advocate for the poor, Kenneth Horne has spread his message of “mercy and justice” through education and awareness programs, professional and public seminars and workshops, a weekly local radio program, and other informative interviews in the media; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Reverend Kenneth C. Horne, Jr., for his many years of visionary leadership of the Society of St. Andrew; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Reverend Kenneth C. Horne, Jr., as an expression of the General Assembly’s gratitude for his continual commitment to the poor and the hungry in the Commonwealth and the nation and best wishes for a joyful and rewarding retirement.