Virginia White

is honored with a Medium Paver from Jennifer, Grant, Jaden and John M. Bell.

Virginia Swain White, a native of Kentucky, came to Wichita, Kansas in 1983 at the request of Boeing President Lionel Alford (now retired) to organize and develop the Kansas Foodbank Warehouse, Inc. Virginia was also responsible for developing the Kentucky Foodbank in 1981 at Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

White is known on a national level for her advocacy on behalf of children and hunger issues. She has, with great success, lobbied state and congressional officials on their behalf. White testified to Congress in 1995 to preserve food stamps as a national program. Congressman Pat Roberts, First District Kansas, the congressman who led the battle to keep the program national, refers to Virginia as "the director of that current Food Stamp bill".

The Kansas Foodbank has the largest service area per square mile in the United States, serving over 85 counties in eastern, central and western Kansas. KFW is the largest food service agency in Kansas. Both the foodbank in Kentucky and in Kansas are a part of Second Harvest, the National Foodbank Network, based in Chicago.

In addition to the development of the Foodbank, Virginia helped in developing the Neighborhood Initiative in Wichita to help poverty stricken neighborhoods lower their crime rate and rebuild their communities.

Virginia served as a Housing Commissioner from 1986 to 1994 and was the Chairman, 1992 to 1993. She is also a member of the Eastside Rotary, Harbor House Board of Directors, NAACP, A. Philip Randolph Institute, Military Affairs, Chamber of Commerce, St. Mary's Cathedral, National Conference of Christian and Jews, Wichita/Sedgwick County Neighborhood Initiative Support Group, and has been very involved in getting the Childhood Hunger Identification Project in Kansas.

Virginia has had more to do with breaking down racial barriers and improving race relations in Wichita than any other one person.

June 2, 1998