    [United States Statutes at Large, Volume 134, 116th Congress, 2nd Session]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    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

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    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.
    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.
    DONALD J. TRUMP