Dwight D. Eisenhower photo

Statement by the President Recorded for the Opening of the Red Cross Campaign.

March 01, 1959

My Fellow Americans:

At this time each year, it is my privilege to remind you that the month of March is "Red Cross Month." This is the time when we may pledge renewed support to those who serve us through the Red Cross.

Many years ago the founder of the Red Cross, Clara Barton, said that her organization stood for: "a peoples' help for the nation." That help has surely been given in full measure. It has been given to families crushed by disaster; it has been given to our men and women in uniform; it has been given to the victims of disease and accident. The pioneer work of Red Cross in Nursing, in First Aid, in Water Safety, and in many other community services has improved the lot of us all. This "peoples' help for the nation" continues unabated. Indeed, the work of the Red Cross has been accelerated by the growth of America's responsibilities and population.

The National Headquarters of the Red Cross is only a few blocks from the White House, and as Honorary Chairman I am kept informed of its work. For example, in mid-January I received a distressing report from the flooded areas of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and bordering States. I was glad to learn that emergency help was being given there to nearly twenty-two thousand families that had been driven from their homes. I know we must do our part now to see that the Red Cross has the money, the volunteers, and the enthusiastic support it needs to do the work which we expect it to do for us.

In some three thousand communities across the country, the Red Cross will ask for our support during the coming month in its annual campaign for members and funds.

I urge you to give generously and offer to serve in the ranks of the Red Cross insofar as you are able. Such an organization needs both money and volunteers to do its neighborly work--in our land and around the world.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Statement by the President Recorded for the Opening of the Red Cross Campaign. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/235280

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