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2020 SESSION

20108182D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 271
Offered February 19, 2020
Commending Alice's Kids.
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Patrons-- Krizek, Sickles and Tran
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WHEREAS, Alice’s Kids, a Mount Vernon-based nonprofit organization that provides immediate, short-term financial assistance to children in need, has brightened countless lives throughout the Washington, D.C., area and the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, Alice’s Kids was founded by Laura Fitzsimmons Peters and Ron Fitzsimmons, who grew up on welfare and were all too familiar with how a family’s poverty and economic instability affects a child’s life; and

WHEREAS, remembering the joy they felt when their mother, Alice, had extra money to buy them new clothes or get them a haircut, Laura Fitzsimmons Peters and Ron Fitzsimmons founded Alice’s Kids to share that feeling with underprivileged children like themselves; and

WHEREAS, depending on a referral network of nearly 500 teachers, counselors, social workers, and others, Alice’s Kids fulfills hundreds of requests each year for items or services that will make a difference in a child’s life; and

WHEREAS, over the years, Alice’s Kids has provided prom fees, soccer cleats, hygiene products, uniforms, glasses, and many other items that have helped children participate in their school’s activities and fit in among their peers; and

WHEREAS, throughout the process, Alice’s Kids takes great effort to ensure that the child is unaware they are a recipient of charity, a method intended to preserve their dignity while offering their parent a chance to shine; and

WHEREAS, working with the national organization Communities in Schools, Alice’s Kids has served children in Nashville, Tennessee; Seattle, Washington; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; San Antonio, Texas; and elsewhere; and

WHEREAS, through these acts of kindness, Alice’s Kids helps shield children from humiliating experiences, consequently boosting their self-esteem, improving their ability to learn, and fostering future opportunities for success; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Alice’s Kids, a nonprofit organization in the Commonwealth dedicated to alleviating the effects of poverty, for the thousands of lives the organization has impacted over the years; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Laura Fitzsimmons Peters and Ron Fitzsimmons, founders of Alice’s Kids, as an expression of the General Assembly’s profound admiration and respect for the organization’s efforts to support children of the Commonwealth in need.