[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 17 (Monday, April 27, 1998)]
[Pages 685-686]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7085--National Volunteer Week, 1998

April 21, 1998

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Volunteers enrich our lives every day with their generosity and 
compassion. In recent months, we have witnessed the extraordinary 
response of America's volunteers to the plight of those who have 
suffered from the severe weather plaguing much of our country. In 
communities devastated by mud slides, ice storms, flash floods, or 
tornadoes, volunteers have opened their hearts and homes to offer 
shelter, hot meals, building materials, and--most important--the hope 
and support that people desperately need to begin putting their lives 
back together. This spirit of citizen service has deep and strong roots 
in America's past, and by nurturing this spirit we can help to ensure a 
better future for our Nation.
    Just one year ago, at the Presidents' Summit for America's Future in 
Philadelphia, I called on all Americans to dedicate their volunteer 
efforts to the well-being of our children and to make the social and 
educational development of our youngest citizens a national priority. 
Thousands of individuals and organizations across America pledged their 
support for this effort; and today, we can be proud that more than 93 
million Americans are regularly volunteering to help hundreds of 
thousands of children in need, serving as leaders, mentors, tutors, and 
companions. Through their hard work and generous response, this growing 
army of volunteers is making our streets safer, our schools better, our 
children healthier, and our future brighter.
    We must not only preserve this remarkable spirit of citizen service, 
but also expand it. By emulating our Nation's many unsung heroes--from 
the 12-year-old in California who distributed dolls to disadvantaged 
children, to the businessman in New York

who created one of our country's first school-to-work programs--we must 
strive together to build a society free from crime, poverty, illiteracy, 
and hopelessness. And by making citizen service the shared experience of 
all Americans, we can build a sense of common responsibility for our 
future.

    This week and throughout the year, let us salute all those who 
devote their time and talents to the betterment of our communities and 
the well-being of our children. Let us honor the work of the thousands 
of voluntary, civic, religious, school, and neighborhood groups across 
our Nation who do so much to serve their fellow Americans and improve 
the quality of life for us all. Let us also recognize and support the 
efforts of the Corporation for National Service and its programs--
AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America, and the National Senior Service 
Corps--as well as all the organizations, communities, and individuals 
who have responded to the Presidents' Summit call to action and are 
following through on the work begun there.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 19 
through April 25, 1998, as National Volunteer Week. I call upon all 
Americans to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, 
and activities to express appreciation to the countless volunteers among 
us for their commitment to service and to encourage the spirit of 
volunteerism in our families and communities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first 
day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, 
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 
and twenty-second.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., April 22, 
1998]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on April 
23.

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