[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 4, 2020)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 12715-12716]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04544]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 85 , No. 43 / Wednesday, March 4, 2020 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 12715]]

                Proclamation 9988 of February 28, 2020

                
American Red Cross Month, 2020

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                For 139 years, the American Red Cross has provided 
                comfort and support services to ease suffering before, 
                during, and after emergencies in the United States and 
                around the world. The American Red Cross provides 
                shelter, care, and compassion in response to more than 
                60,000 disasters a year. It also supplies about 40 
                percent of our Nation's blood products; teaches skills 
                that save lives; supports our military, veterans, and 
                their families; and provides international humanitarian 
                aid to countries in need. During American Red Cross 
                Month, we thank and honor the selfless volunteers, 
                dedicated employees, and generous supporters who invest 
                their time, talent, and resources to provide 
                compassionate outreach and assistance to so many.

                Each year, American Red Cross workers and trained 
                volunteers respond to a wide range of emergencies, from 
                natural disasters that destroy entire communities to 
                home fires that displace individual families. In 
                response to last year's devastating hurricanes, 
                wildfires, storms, floods, and earthquakes, the 
                American Red Cross and its partners opened and 
                supported emergency shelters for more than 300 days. 
                During these and other crises, nearly 9,000 American 
                Red Cross workers--90 percent of whom are volunteers--
                left their homes to work in affected areas, providing 
                refuge, food, relief items, emotional support, recovery 
                planning, and significant assistance to vulnerable 
                families in their darkest hours and times of need. In 
                2019 alone, the American Red Cross also supported 
                responses to 17 international disasters and 
                humanitarian crises as a key part of the world's 
                largest humanitarian network.

                Clara Barton, a pioneering nurse from Massachusetts, 
                founded the American Red Cross out of a desire to 
                continue providing help and supplies to people in need 
                following the Civil War. Her words, ``I may be 
                compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while 
                our Soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed 
                and nurse them,'' echo today in the continued 
                dedication of the American Red Cross to our service 
                members, veterans, and their families. Today, the 
                American Red Cross Hero Care Network provides critical 
                and confidential services to our Armed Forces worldwide 
                through local, State, and national resources. Last 
                year, Hero Care Network provided more than 355,000 
                emergency communication services to nearly 100,000 
                deployed military members and their families. It is 
                also the largest provider of free professional 
                volunteer services to recovering wounded warriors and 
                their families in military treatment facilities and 
                hospitals. This network is dedicated to supporting 
                programs and services that aid families as they 
                navigate the demands of military life.

                Across our great country, about 2,500 hospitals and 
                other facilities depend on volunteer blood donors to 
                meet the critical needs of patients. Each year, on 
                average, the American Red Cross collects more than 4.6 
                million blood donations and nearly 1 million platelet 
                donations from more than 2.6 million volunteers. In 
                2019, donations of more than 6.4 million blood products 
                helped save and improve the lives of people of all 
                ages, including accident victims, mothers giving birth, 
                surgery patients, and those battling cancer and other 
                life-threatening or altering conditions.

[[Page 12716]]

                Every day, the American Red Cross serves people 
                throughout the United States and around the world. Its 
                lifesaving mission and the indelible mark it leaves 
                around the world are possible only because of the 
                devotion of volunteers, the generosity of donors, and 
                the partnership of community organizations. Together, 
                they bring critical hope, help, and healing in times of 
                crisis, despair, and devastation.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, 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 the laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim March 2020 as American Red 
                Cross Month. I encourage all Americans to observe this 
                month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and 
                activities, and to support the work of the American Red 
                Cross and their local chapters.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                fourth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2020-04544
Filed 3-3-20; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3295-F0-P