Recognizing Terri Judah

Floor Speech

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Mr. VASQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Terri Judah for her outstanding contributions to Carlsbad, New Mexico. Terri is a community leader who has devoted her time and effort to feeding New Mexico's families and working for New Mexico's children for over two decades.

Terri gets a profound sense of joy from helping those in need and has organized an annual Thanksgiving food drive for over twenty years. The food drive started two decades ago when Terri partnered with her daughters' Girl Scout troop to create 19 food baskets to deliver to families in need. Driven by Terri's enthusiasm and hard work, the food drive blossomed over time to include help from hundreds of volunteers in the community, including Girl Scout troops, sports teams, students, and local businesses. The Thanksgiving food drive now feeds hundreds of families each year and fed over 300 families last year.

The continued success of this food drive requires extensive dedication, compassion, and community support. In the weeks and months leading up to Thanksgiving, Terri starts setting up donation sites throughout town, storing donations, and coordinating volunteers to assemble baskets and deliveries. The entire community truly rallies around Terri and steps up to ensure families will not go hungry in the holiday season.

Terri also created Operation Hope--a project where she collects and restores used items such as furniture, clothes, and toys, to give to any family that reaches out for assistance. Terri began this effort when she learned that one of her former students was living hand to mouth, and she decided she could not sit idly by. She jumped into action, collecting items that could help her student's family live a little more comfortably and continues to offer support to any family that asks for help.

Above all her impactful work, Terri is a proud wife, mom, grandma, and friend to all. She has also taught kindergarten in Carlsbad Public Schools for the past twenty-five years. She is a beloved teacher, and her students are forever known as ``Judah's Jaguars''. She truly does it all.

On behalf of the people of New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District, I would like to thank Terri for her commitment to helping those less fortunate and ensuring her neighbors are fed during the holiday season. She exemplifies the best that New Mexico has to offer, and we are extremely proud of her incredible work.

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