2025 -- H 6404

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LC002977

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

RECOGNIZING AND THANKING ANDREW SCHIFF ON THE OCCASION OF HIS

RETIREMENT AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE RHODE ISLAND COMMUNITY

FOOD BANK

     Introduced By: Representatives Slater, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Chippendale, Diaz,
Tanzi, Ackerman, Shallcross Smith, Ajello, and Fogarty

     Date Introduced: June 10, 2025

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, Andrew Schiff, Chief Executive Officer of the Rhode Island Community

Food Bank, has devoted more than eighteen years of leadership and service dedicated to

distributing food and helping those in need in our State; and

     WHEREAS, A non-profit organization, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank is the

central distribution hub for the statewide network of member services and currently distributes

18.3 million pounds of healthy, culturally relevant food to more than 84,400 Rhode Islanders

each month through its network of 147-member agencies, which includes pantries, meal sites,

senior programs and school programs; and

     WHEREAS, During his tenure as CEO of the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, Mr.

Schiff has doubled the amount of food distributed to people in need, and led his dedicated team

with humility, compassion and a strong vision of what was vital to the community he served; and

     WHEREAS, For nearly two decades, Mr. Schiff has been an ardent and fierce advocate

for not only those struggling to keep food on the table, but also on issues affecting their lives

including raising the minimum wage, increasing Earned Income Tax Credit, and improving

access to Snap, WIC and school meals; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Schiff’s leadership successfully steered the Food Bank through the

pandemic, ensuring uninterrupted food distribution, establishing new relationships with various

under-resourced communities, and launching an annual Status Report of Hunger as a much-

needed source of information on food insecurity; and

     WHEREAS, Although he will be deeply missed, Mr. Schiff has certainly earned a

retirement surrounded by his children, grandson and many friends; and

     WHEREAS, Sir Winston Churchill was quoted as saying, “We make a living by what we

get, we make a life by what we give.” Andrew Schiff opened his heart and filled his life with

hard work and good deeds, and his devotion to those struggling and in need in Rhode Island has

distinguished him as a person worthy of our utmost admiration and gratitude; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

thanks and honors Andrew Schiff for his outstanding contributions to feeding and advocating for

our State’s most vulnerable. We furthermore wish him continued health, happiness, and success

in all his future endeavors; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. Andrew Schiff.

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LC002977

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