TITLE: Congratulating Eric Cooper, president and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank, on his selection as the 2011 Executive Director of the Year by Feeding America.

SUMMARY: Congratulating Eric Cooper, president and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank, on his selection as the 2011 Executive Director of the Year by Feeding America.

FULL TEXT:
WHEREAS, Eric Cooper, president and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank, has been recognized by Feeding America as its 2011 Executive Director of the Year; and WHEREAS, Feeding America is a leading domestic hunger relief organization; through its network of more than 200 member food banks, it provides nutritious food to approximately 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors; its Executive Director of the Year Award is presented to a director of a member food bank who has significantly contributed to the effort to feed the hungry in his or her community; and WHEREAS, In his role as head of the San Antonio Food Bank, Mr. Cooper leads an organization that feeds more than 58,000 people every week in an area that includes Bexar County and 15 surrounding counties; since he assumed his present post in 2001, the SAFB has increased its distribution of food and grocery products from 14 million to more than 43 million pounds and boosted its operating budget by over 769 percent; Mr. Cooper has also overseen a $10 million capital campaign that enabled the SAFB to move into a new facility to better serve the community; and WHEREAS, Under Mr. Cooper's guidance, the SAFB has added new services and programs, increased public awareness of its mission and the problem of hunger in the community, and expanded its team of employees, volunteers, and donors; among the initiatives undertaken have been the creation of a major food stamp outreach program, the establishment of the Community Kitchen, which feeds homeless women and children while training unemployed and underemployed individuals in culinary, job, and life skills, and the securing of grants that have made it possible to hire full-time nutritionists to educate partner agencies and their clients about obesity and other health problems caused by poor diet; and WHEREAS, During Mr. Cooper's tenure, the SAFB has maintained a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, and it has received the Feeding America Food Bank of the Year Award; and WHEREAS, In addition to his work with the SAFB, Mr. Cooper serves as president of the board of directors for the Texas Food Bank Network and as a member of both the Mayor's Fitness Task Force and the Feeding America national task force on nutrition and food sourcing; he has also co-chaired the Mayor's Task Force for Hunger and Homelessness and helped launch a national fund-raising effort, the Campaign for a Hunger-Free America; and WHEREAS, Mr. Cooper is a graduate of the University of Utah, where he earned degrees in sociology, social work, and business administration; before he was hired to lead the SAFB, he served as product donations manager for the North Texas Food Bank from 1999 to 2001 and as deputy director for the Utah Food Bank from 1993 to 1999; and WHEREAS, Eric Cooper and his wife, Erinn, are the proud parents of five children, Madison, Morgan, Gabriel, Elijah, and Meredith; in his spare time, Mr. Cooper volunteers as a Scout Master for the Boy Scouts of America; and WHEREAS, An accomplished administrator, Eric Cooper has provided inspiring leadership to the San Antonio Food Bank and contributed immeasurably to the work of alleviating and ending hunger in South Texas, and he is indeed worthy of this prestigious accolade; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas Legislature hereby congratulate Eric Cooper on his selection as the 2011 Executive Director of the Year by Feeding America and extend to him sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it further RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be prepared for Mr. Cooper as an expression of high regard by the Texas House of Representatives. Menendez Straus Gonzales of Williamson Morrison Aliseda Gonzalez Munoz, Jr. Allen Gooden Murphy Alonzo Guillen Naishtat Alvarado Gutierrez Nash Anchia Hamilton Oliveira Anderson of Dallas Hancock Orr Anderson of McLennan Hardcastle Otto Aycock Harless Parker Beck Harper-Brown Patrick Berman Hartnett Paxton Bohac Hernandez Luna Pena Bonnen Hilderbran Perry Branch Hochberg Phillips Brown Hopson Pickett Burkett Howard of Fort Bend Pitts Burnam Howard of Travis Price Button Huberty Quintanilla Cain Hughes Raymond Callegari Hunter Reynolds Carter Isaac Riddle Castro Jackson Ritter Chisum Johnson Rodriguez Christian Keffer Schwertner Coleman King of Parker Scott Cook King of Taylor Sheets Craddick King of Zavala Sheffield Creighton Kleinschmidt Shelton Crownover Kolkhorst Simpson Darby Kuempel Smith of Harris Davis of Dallas Landtroop Smith of Tarrant J. Davis of Harris Larson Smithee S. Davis of Harris Laubenberg Solomons Deshotel Lavender Strama Driver Legler Taylor of Collin Dukes Lewis Taylor of Galveston Dutton Lozano Thompson Eiland Lucio III Torres Eissler Lyne Truitt Elkins Madden Turner Farias Mallory Caraway Veasey Farrar Margo Villarreal Fletcher Marquez Vo Flynn Martinez Walle Frullo Martinez Fischer Weber Gallego McClendon White Garza Menendez Woolley Geren Miles Workman Giddings Miller of Comal Zedler Gonzales of Hidalgo Miller of Erath Zerwas Speaker of the House I certify that H.R. No. 1 965 was adopted by the House on May 20, 2011, by a non-record vote. Chief Clerk of the House