National Volunteer Week, 1995

Proclamation 6790 of April 21, 1995

National Volunteer Week, 1995

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Our ancestors built this Nation on the spirit of
independence and the strength of community. Yesterday's
Americans came together to raise a barn, till a farm,
or teach a child to write. They came together to care
for one another and to lift up their neighbors in need.
For rich and poor, old and young, giving their talents
to benefit the community was the most fundamental
responsibility of American citizenship.

Through the years, this basic ideal has endured.
Service remains the noblest quality of the American
character. Our people still come together to build a
house, plant a garden, or tutor a child. Elementary
school students help older Americans in their daily
lives. Seniors help struggling teenagers stay out of
trouble. Countless dedicated citizens claim our
country's challenges as their own. Their service sets a
powerful example of leadership and compassion for each
of us to follow.

As a partner in progress, government can expand and
strengthen this great American legacy. AmeriCorps, the
Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America now provide
service opportunities for more than a million of our
citizens. These initiatives enable us to keep faith
with the covenant of citizenship. This week, we
celebrate the tens of millions of volunteers who give
their time, their energy, and their hearts to making
our world a better place.

We are indeed fortunate that, even as we face difficult
problems in our streets, schools, homes, and
communities, citizens are volunteering to help one
another in numerous ways. Some spend a few hours every
week. Others give entire days--even years--of their
lives to service. Each makes a lasting contribution to
the substance and the spirit of community in America.
And each helps lead us into an ever brighter future.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, 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 23 through April 29,
1995, as ``National Volunteer Week.'' I call upon all
Americans to observe this week with appropriate
programs, ceremonies, and activities in expression of
their commitment.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-five, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and nineteenth.

(Presidential Sig.)>