[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 78 (Friday, April 24, 2009)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 18973-18974]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-9621]



[[Page 18971]]

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Part V





The President





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Proclamation 8363--National Volunteer Week, 2009



Proclamation 8364--Earth Day, 2009
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  Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 78 / Friday, April 24, 2009 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 18973]]

                Proclamation 8363 of April 21, 2009

                
National Volunteer Week, 2009

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                 Our Nation's story begins with a call to volunteer. 
                Confronting the injustices of tyranny and small odds of 
                victory, patriots rallied one another to serve a cause 
                greater than themselves. As the beneficiaries of this 
                legacy, we possess an obligation to volunteer and serve 
                our fellow citizens with similar selflessness and 
                optimism.

                 Americans keep this proud tradition alive every day 
                across our country. They are protecting us in uniform, 
                feeding the hungry, tutoring children, comforting 
                seniors, and reaching out to veterans. They are 
                providing critical support to schools, shelters, 
                hospitals, and nursing homes, through faith-based and 
                community organizations, at home and abroad. Volunteers 
                change lives and strengthen our Nation and our world.

                 My Administration is committed to supporting and 
                supplementing the crucial efforts that Americans make 
                to volunteer. The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, 
                which I signed into law today, will help millions of 
                Americans of all ages to volunteer and to direct that 
                service towards meeting our most pressing challenges. 
                It truly will usher in a new era of service.

                 This landmark law recruits an army of 250,000 per year 
                to engage in intensive service, and it focuses that 
                work on today's challenges, including clean energy, 
                education, health, veterans care, and economic 
                opportunity. It creates new service opportunities for 
                seniors, baby boomers, and young adults, and improves 
                service learning in our schools.

                 The law also creates a Social Innovation Fund. This 
                fund looks for new ideas in communities and leverages 
                private, nonprofit, and faith-based support to invest 
                in local innovation. The fund also allows us to test 
                the impact of new ideas and expand successful programs 
                to scale.

                 Volunteering provides the opportunity to join and 
                better a community. Every American who volunteers can 
                become an integral part of a school, a hospital, or a 
                neighborhood. Those who give of their time also join 
                our Nation's proud history of service and help preserve 
                this tradition for generations ahead. During National 
                Volunteer Week, we express heartfelt thanks to all who 
                have worked hard in this effort, and we urge more 
                Americans to reach out and meet the manifold unmet 
                needs of fellow Americans.

                 NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim April 19-25, 2009 as 
                National Volunteer Week. I call upon all Americans to 
                join ongoing volunteer service efforts, and to create 
                new ones.

[[Page 18974]]

                 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. E9-9621
Filed 4-23-09; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3195-W9-P