For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 16, 2001
National Volunteer Week, 2001
By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation
America is blessed with millions of
individuals of good will and good works who play significant roles in
making positive change in the lives of others.
While Government has great responsibilities
for public safety and public health, for civil rights and common
schools, compassion is the work of a Nation. Caring requires
more than Government alone can provide. Many of society's
greatest problems can only be solved on a personal level, between those
who care and those in need.
During times of
war and natural disaster, Americans have provided relief to those in
need. Yet every day there are less publicized instances of
human need to which America's quiet heroes respond with equal strength
and vigor. Americans contribute food to soup kitchens and
clothes to shelters and give love to at-risk children, counsel to those
who have been abused, and friendship to those in hospitals and nursing
homes. From building a new home for a young family to
bringing a meal to an elderly neighbor who is house-bound, there are
countless ways we can invest our time and resources to provide
compassionate help to our neighbors.
The
faith community is a particularly rich source of volunteer strength in
America. Government can rally a military, but it cannot put
hope in our hearts or a sense of purpose in our lives. Faith
motivates countless volunteers and calls on them to use their talents
to improve their neighborhoods in ways that are beyond Government's
know-how. Church and charity, synagogue, and mosque form an
essential part of our communities and their indispensable work must
have an honored place in our plans and in our
laws. Government can and should unleash the best impulses of
the American spirit by welcoming faith-based organizations, as well as
other community groups, as partners in encouraging the high calling of
serving others.
This week provides an
opportunity to thank those who give so much throughout the year to help
those less fortunate. It should also serve as a challenge to
each of us to devote more energy to seeking a common good beyond our
comfort. What individual Americans do is more important than
anything Government does. We must all heed Albert
Schweitzer's counsel: "The only ones among you who will be really
happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President
of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in
me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby
proclaim April 22 through 28, 2001, as National Volunteer
Week. During this week, I call on all Americans to celebrate
the invaluable work that volunteers do everyday across our country.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my
hand this sixteenth day of April, 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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