National School Lunch Week, 1997

Proclamation 7038 of October 10, 1997

National School Lunch Week, 1997

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Each year during the month of October, we set aside a
week to focus on the importance of the National School
Lunch Program and its contributions to the health and
well-being of America's schoolchildren. Through this
program, established more than 50 years ago by
President Truman, young people learn firsthand about
healthful dietary habits and how to make wise choices
regarding the foods they eat. And for millions of
children, many of whom come from families in need,
their school lunch is the most nutritious meal they
will eat during the day.

When President Kennedy proclaimed the first National
School Lunch Week in 1963, some 68,000 schools were
serving lunches to 16 million children each day. Today,
the program is available in more than 94,000 schools
across the country, and 26 million students participate
daily. This dramatic growth proves that the program
continues to meet a significant need in local
communities across the Nation, and its success
admirably reflects the hard work and commitment of
school food-service professionals, as well as the
support and technical assistance provided by State
administrators.

The National School Lunch Program also reflects our
profound concern for the well-being of our young
people. By providing them with wholesome, nutritious
meals day in and day out, we are helping to improve our
children's overall health, increase their learning
capacity, lengthen their attention span, and promote
healthful dietary habits that will serve them well for
a lifetime.

All of these accomplishments are made possible by the
many dedicated food-service professionals,
administrators, educators, parents, business and
community leaders, and other concerned individuals at
the local, State, and Federal levels who work in
partnership to ensure the effectiveness of the National
School Lunch Program. We must strive to build on their
achievements so that this vital program will continue
to meet the needs of America's children into the next
century.

In recognition of the contributions of the National
School Lunch Program to the nutritional well-being of
children, the Congress by joint resolution of October
9, 1962 (Public Law No. 87-780), has designated the
week beginning the second Sunday in October of each
year as ``National School Lunch Week'' and has
requested the President to issue a proclamation in
observance of that week.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of
the United States of America, do hereby proclaim
October 12 through October 18, 1997, as National School
Lunch Week. I call upon all Americans to recognize
those individuals whose efforts contribute to the
success of this program and to observe this week with
appropriate programs and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
tenth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen
hundred and ninety-seven, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the two hundred and
twenty-second.