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PROCLAMATIONS—FEB. 15, 1956 R E D CROSS MONTH,

February 15, 1956 [No. 3124]

[70

STAT.

1956

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Red Cross Month, 1956.

WHEREAS for seventy-five years the American National Red Cross has served the people of our Nation in peace and in war and has assisted the Government of the United States in meeting its responsibilities under the international Red Cross treaties; and WHEREAS, under the authority vested in the American National Red Cross by act of Congress, this great humanitarian organization serves the armed forces of the United States in matters pertaining to voluntary relief, and acts as the Nation's recognized agency for the relief of persons and families stricken by the misfortune of disaster; and WHEREAS, in its seventy-fifth year, the American National Red Cross has ministered to the needs of disaster sufferers on a scale never before equalled in its history, in consequence of the tragic floods that inundated our East Coast and West Coast States during recent months, and has thereby restored hope and the material means for family living to many thousands of distressed Americans; and WHEREAS the Red Cross provides life-giving blood and blood derivatives to the sick and injured through many of the Nation's Federal and civilian hospitals, and strengthens the people of our communities for future trials and emergencies through its programs of education and training in first aid, water safety, and home nursing; and WHEREAS these and other essential services continue to make an indispensable contribution to the welfare of the American people, and to demonstrate to the world the determination of each of us to give voluntary assistance to our neighbors; and WHEREAS this year's unprecedented demands upon its resources have dangerously depleted the Red Cross disaster relief funds; and WHEREAS in all its seventy-five years of distinguished service to the Nation the Red Cross has relied solely on the voluntary support and participation of the American people for the resources which make possible its great work: NOW, THEREFORE, I, DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, President of the United States of America and Honorary Chairman of the American National Red Cross, do hereby designate March 1956 as Red Cross Month; and I urge all Americans during that month to assure the continuing effectiveness of the work of the Red Cross by contributing liberally of their funds and by enrolling for active membership in this deserving organization. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed. D O N E at the City of Washington this fifteenth day of February in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-six, [SEAL] and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eightieth. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER By the President: H E R B E R T HOOVER,

Jr.,

Acting Secretary of State,

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