Proclamation 4717

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

For nearly a century now, the American Red Cross has been an expression of the brotherhood of man. Its humanitarian efforts transcend not only geographical boundaries but also those of political ideology. This past year our Red Cross could be found at work among the hundreds of thousands of Cambodians who sought refuge from hunger and disease in Thai refugee camps. Similarly, it provided aid, through the International Red Cross, to the civilian population of strife torn Nicaragua and it brought assistance to the "boat people" of Southeast Asia.

Here at home, the Red Cross mobilized a vast relief program along the Gulf Coast to help the thousands of our fellow citizens whose homes were destroyed or damaged by a series of hurricanes. In so doing it strained its financial resources, expending in a three-month period a budget meant to last for a year.

In addition to easing the suffering of disaster victims, the Red Cross provides more than one-half of our need for blood; teaches us first aid, water safety, and proper care of the ill and injured; and comes to the aid of the men and women in our armed forces and of veterans and their families.

The month of March is traditionally observed as Red Cross Month. It is a time to honor those who make this precious humanitarian work possible: the Red Cross volunteer, our neighbor.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JIMMY CARTER, President of the United States of America and Honorary Chairman of the American National Red Cross, do hereby designate March 1980 as Red Cross Month. I urge all Americans to "Help Keep Red Cross Ready" by giving generous support to their local Red Cross Chapter. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have here unto set my hand this twenty-third day of January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred eighty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourth.

JIMMY CARTER

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:08 p.m., January 23, 1980]