John F. Kennedy photo

Message Recorded for the Opening of the United Community Campaigns of America

September 22, 1963

My fellow Americans:

This is a time of great change in our country--economic and social and scientific life. But there are some things that do not change.

One of the oldest traditions in the United States has been the sense of responsibility which we have felt as a people for our less fortunate neighbors. This goes back to our earliest beginnings in Virginia and in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. I hope it is a tradition which is as alive today as it was 300 years ago.

This country has a strong tradition of individual self-reliance, but we also recognize that there are people who, through no fault of their own, need our help--children who may be sick, who may be alone, men and women who may be ill, older people who may be deserted, all the people in our community who are our neighbors and who need our help.

I hope this year, therefore, that you will join in this great national effort, this great national crusade through the United Way and give. It will make your community a happier place; it will make you a happier person, and in the real sense your community is your country. It will make our country a finer place in which to live.

There are several million Americans who are voluntarily working to maintain this program. It is the kind of program which I am sure you will be proud to be associated with.

I express my thanks to all who are working in it, and I think that includes 180 million Americans. We appreciate your help.

Note: The President's message was video-taped in the Cabinet Room at the White House on September 17 and broadcast over major radio and television networks at 10 p.m. on Sunday, September 22.

John F. Kennedy, Message Recorded for the Opening of the United Community Campaigns of America Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/235831

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