American Red Cross Month, 2001

Proclamation 7408 of 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.

(Presidential Sig.)B