[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 16 (Monday, April 23, 2001)]
[Page 620]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7427--National Volunteer Week, 2001

 April 16, 2001

 By the President of the United States

 of America

 A Proclamation

    America is blessed with millions of individuals of good will and 
good works who play significant roles in making positive change in the 
lives of others.
    While Government has great responsibilities for public safety and 
public health, for civil rights and common schools, compassion is the 
work of a Nation. Caring requires more than Government alone can 
provide. Many of society's greatest problems can only be solved on a 
personal level, between those who care and those in need.
    During times of war and natural disaster, Americans have provided 
relief to those in need. Yet every day there are less publicized 
instances of human need to which America's quiet heroes respond with 
equal strength and vigor. Americans con tribute food to soup kitchens 
and clothes to shelters and give love to at-risk children, counsel to 
those who have been abused, and friendship to those in hospitals and 
nursing homes. From building a new home for a young family to bringing a 
meal to an elderly neighbor who is house-bound, there are countless ways 
we can invest our time and resources to provide compassionate help to 
our neighbors.
    The faith community is a particularly rich source of volunteer 
strength in America. Government can rally a military, but it cannot put 
hope in our hearts or a sense of purpose in our lives. Faith motivates 
countless volunteers and calls on them to use their talents to improve 
their neighborhoods in ways that are beyond Government's know-how. 
Church and charity, synagogue, and mosque form an essential part of our 
communities and their indispensable work must have an honored place in 
our plans and in our laws. Government can and should unleash the best 
impulses of the American spirit by welcoming faith-based organizations, 
as well as other community groups, as partners in encouraging the high 
calling of serving others.
    This week provides an opportunity to thank those who give so much 
throughout the year to help those less fortunate. It should also serve 
as a challenge to each of us to devote more energy to seeking a common 
good beyond our comfort. What individual Americans do is more important 
than anything Government does. We must all heed Albert Schweitzer's 
counsel: ``The only ones among you who will be really happy are those 
who have sought and found how to serve.''
    Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, 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 22 through 28, 2001, 
as National Volunteer Week. During this week, I call on all Americans to 
celebrate the invaluable work that volunteers do everyday across our 
country.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day 
of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand one, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
fifth.
                                                George W. Bush

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., April 18, 
2001]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on April 
19.