Mid Coast Today

Chellie Pingree was mentioned in IN MEMORY OF LAURA COLE..... on page E209 covering the 1st Session of the 117th Congress published on March 8, 2021 in the Congressional Record.

The publication is reproduced in full below:

IN MEMORY OF LAURA COLE

______

HON. CHELLIE PINGREE

of maine

in the house of representatives

Monday, March 8, 2021

Ms. PINGREE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and remember an extraordinary Maine woman, Laura Cole.

Laura lived her life purposefully, offering help and engendering hope and happiness as a partner, parent, volunteer, friend, business owner, and citizen of Maine. She understood the power of one person's voice and helping hand, and her spirit was contagious.

Laura exemplified the words of Edward Hale, ``I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.''

It seems there was very little that Laura did not do, and she received several awards for her efforts, including the Presidential Volunteer Service Award in 2012, the Responder of the Year Award in 2013, and the New Maine Business of the Year for York County, Maine, in 2019. She spearheaded her community's Operation Santa program for kids and the annual Lebanon Community Festival. In the midst of this winter that has been darkened by a pandemic, she created two acres of holiday lights for the community to enjoy from their cars and drop off canned food to donate to local food pantries. And she used proceeds from her event photography business to support End 68 Hours of Hunger and buy lunches to support local restaurants and donate to first responders.

Not only did Laura devote her life to acts of kindness and caring, her final gifts were organ and tissue donations, providing lifesaving help and health to over a dozen people. In her honor, the family has established Laura's Legacy of Love as a living memorial project with a simple mission--to promote kindness by paying it forward in her name.

I am proud to have represented Laura Cole in the U.S. Congress--an indefatigable young woman who loved Maine and set an extraordinary example for us all.

____________________

SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 43

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