For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 26, 2001
American Red Cross Month, 2001
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The American Red Cross was founded in 1881 by
Clara Barton, a woman selflessly devoted to the needs of
humanity. Many of the Red Cross's guiding principles --
compassion, courage, character, and civic duty -- are timeless ideals
shared by the people of the United States.
Chartered and authorized by the Congress to
act in times of need, the American Red Cross serves our Nation and the
world, providing compassionate assistance to people afflicted by
personal, local, national, or international disasters. Every
day, millions of Red Cross volunteers and employees follow in Clara
Barton's footsteps by providing essential services to people in their
communities.
For more than 120 years, Americans have relied
on the expertise of the American Red Cross in disaster
relief. Last year, the Red Cross helped people during
devastating wildfires in New Mexico and Montana and in communities hit
by massive ice storms in Nebraska, Arkansas, and across the
Midwest. Volunteers respond to an estimated 63,000 disasters
each year and help millions of people during trying times of
loss. The American Red Cross also saves lives long before
tragedy strikes by helping individuals and entire communities learn to
prepare for disasters.
The educational information distributed by the
American Red Cross helps people feel safe at home, at work, at school,
and at play. Last year, the Red Cross trained nearly 12
million people in lifesaving CPR and first aid, in the use of automated
external defibrillators (AEDS), on HIV/AIDS education, and in
lifeguarding and water safety. Many people also know about
the Red Cross because of the organization's blood collection
drives. In 2000, more than 6.3 million units of blood were
collected from 4 million generous blood donors.
Under its charter, the American Red Cross is
entrusted to deliver emergency messages and provide vital services for
military members and their families. Staff members deploy
with our Armed Forces to provide emergency communications and a caring
presence to service men and women separated from their
families. Almost 40,000 Red Cross volunteers work at more
than 100 military sites here and around the world.
Through the years, the American Red Cross has
reached out to people worldwide, preventing and relieving the most
desperate cases of human suffering caused by crises
abroad. For families in need right now -- in more than 50
developing nations -- the American Red Cross is helping to establish
sanitary and healthy living conditions by creating reliable sources of
food and water. The organization's international services
save the lives of people threatened by calamities such as epidemics,
natural disasters, armed conflict, deadly weather, social strife, or
economic collapse.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President
of the United States of America and Honorary Chairman of the American
Red Cross, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution
and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2001 as
American Red Cross Month. I request, as my predecessor
Franklin Roosevelt did 58 years ago, that each American enlist in the
Red Cross "army of mercy" -- and give part of themselves to advance
this organization's noble humanitarian mission. We have a
long way yet to travel, but together, we can save lives. On
behalf of a grateful Nation, we applaud and salute the selfless
dedication of generations of Red Crossers.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my
hand this twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord two
thousand one, and of the Independence of the United States of America
the two hundred and twenty-fifth.
GEORGE
W. BUSH
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