 Thank you very much, but it's you who deserve the applause Today we kick off a week of activities that are honoring the spirit of Voluntarism A spirit which we can see by you gathered in this room is very much alive and still growing in America It's no overstatement to say that America is a nation of volunteers. I think philosophers might want to contemplate the question Why is the freest nation on earth also the one in which it is so common to see people from every walk of life Rich and poor young and old Rolling up their sleeves and pitching in to help others Maybe it's just that we want to say thank you to the Lord who blessed our country With freedom and the best way to do that is to care for our fellow human beings And maybe that's why Poles say that most Americans agree that no matter how big and powerful government gets And how many services it provides it can never take the place of volunteers This is the fourth year that we've been giving these awards And I thought you might be interested to hear some current news of those who've been honored in the past Like America's volunteer spirit their activities continue to grow reaching out to help more and more people Two years ago a group of concerned mothers received an award for their efforts to combat drunk driving Since then mothers against drunk driving or Mad as they're known has tripled in size and now it has chapters in almost every state of the Union. I Don't think there's any question that has been largely their energy and determination There that has helped bring about a Significant drop in fatalities due to drunk driving The Sunshine Foundation which grants special wishes to terminally ill children is Today helping over four times as many children as when they received the award in 1982 and children of the night a Program that works with teenage prostitutes in Hollywood is now raising funds to build a permanent shelter for these children in crisis The America's foundation which won an award last year has sent a shipment of vitamins to Mother Teresa in India Brought several Afghan freedom fighters to the United States for medical treatment and just recently made his first airlift of food to the sedan These are just a few examples of how volunteers make a difference But these generous people are not alone Recently it seemed as if all of America volunteered to help feed the starving in Africa The plight of that unfortunate continent inspired some of the most generous giving in history With private donations from Americans topping a hundred million dollars. I Guess it's true that if you tap any American deeply enough you'll find a volunteer We're going to be giving out only 18 volunteer action awards today and 44 citations The difficult part was singling out those relative few from the thousands upon thousands of worthy Americans But in honoring you we honor them and the best in every American That selfless giving spirit of volunteerism which lends a helping hand in brotherhood and neighborliness to those in need So to you all my heartfelt Congratulations, and now with the assistance of Donna Alvarado and Governor Romney. I'll have the pleasure of handing out the awards Sun City prides Sun City, Arizona For the volunteers step forward, please Sun City prides involves the retired residents in the maintenance of the city's parks and highway medians trimming trees Fertilizing the plantings and clearing debris a contribution of over 62,000 hours each year accepting the award Joseph McIntyre president Missouri speleological survey Elden, Missouri has involved volunteers statewide in locating over 4,000 and mapping 1,600 caves since the organization was founded in 1956 Helping identify sources of pollution in the state's water supply Mr. Dwight we Includes black men from all walks of life who work with black youths on an individual and group basis sponsoring activities Offering small grants to youth organizations and serving as positive role models Mr. Irvin Urquhart president Amanda the panda volunteers Fort Lauderdale, Florida Involved senior citizens in an educational and supporting role to single mothers and to new mothers under the age of 21 These volunteers taught parenting skills to over 6,000 young mothers Ms. Shirley Bracey volunteer Henrietta a la Jim Watertown, Massachusetts founded the Lupus Foundation of America in 1972 which provides emotional educational and medical support to over 89,000 Lupus patients and their families Henrietta a la Jim Dr. Kelsey J. Kaplan girl the third little rock Arkansas Developed the med camps of Arkansas, which have offered 70 weeks of camping since 1972 for children suffering from a wide variety of disabilities Dr. Kelsey Kaplan girl Dr. Vernon Falconhain Rala, Missouri organized the Missouri chapter of volunteer Optometric services to humanity and has led 10 teams of optometrists and opticians to eight countries since 1977 supplying over 28,000 people with eyeglasses Dr. Vernon Falconhain Reverend Hezekiah David Stewart college station, Arkansas founded the watershed project which since 1978 has assisted over 950 people to find jobs and has provided food clothing and shelter for thousands as well as alcohol counseling and Utility and rent assistant Reverend Hezekiah Stewart Professor Lester W. Corey Tiberton Rhode Island founded the share foundation which involves engineering Professionals in designing and developing custom fabricated computerized communication systems to more than 24 severely disabled individuals Professor Lester Corey the volunteer Corps of the 1984 Olympic Games, Los Angeles, California Involved over 30,000 volunteers from all walks of life in all aspects of the Olympic Games Accepting the award is the woman who as a volunteer coordinated the 30,000 volunteers Ms. Vilma Pallette National court-appointed special advocates association Casa Seattle, Washington involves 17,000 volunteers in 115 Casa programs in 26 states as Child advocates in court cases involving abused and neglected children Accepting the award on behalf of Casa is Ms. Linda Paolino Parents Anonymous Torrance, California was founded in 1970 by an abusive parent and her therapist and has since that time worked with over 200,000 families providing self-help assistance to abusive adults and beginning in 1985 To anyone over the age of 18 who was a victim of sexual abuse Accepting the award Leonard Lieber executive director Texas Youth Commission Dallas house Dallas, Texas Involves the teenage residents most of whom are placed there by the courts as volunteers in the community working with churches Repairing homes of the elderly and educating the public about drugs and family problems Accepting on behalf of the volunteers mr. Abel Abila 19 national and international unions AFL CIO Involved 68 union locals in adapting union halls along 2,000 miles of coast from Texas to Virginia for use by the Red Cross as disaster relief staging facilities Accepting the award is mr. Charles H. Pallard president international brotherhood of electrical workers Delmarva power and light company Wilmington Delaware involves employees and company vehicles in a unique community safety project reporting accidents fires Crimes and malfunctioning traffic signals mr. Martin Duffy manager and community affairs Mr. President the final award this afternoon is presented to all state insurance company Northbrook, Illinois Which provides a wide range of activities to involve Employees and retirees at all levels of community volunteer activities Involving almost 75 percent of their employees in more than 10,000 projects Accepting on behalf of all state mr. Donald Crabe chairman and chief executive officer Now before we go there's one more special award that I'd like to present It's to Donna stone Pesh Who passed away just two months ago at the age of 49? 1972 she founded the national committee for prevention of child abuse a volunteer organization that became a catalyst in Heightening international awareness of child abuse It's estimated that while only one in ten people were concerned with child abuse in 1972 Today nearly 90 percent know about it Are aware and concerned and want to help with this problem Clem stone would you please come up here to accept this award for your daughter Donna? The good work that she did will live on in the organization that she founded and in the hearts and minds of the children that she helped from abuse and tragedy Congratulations to you and you I Thank you all again. God bless all of you for what you continue to do And now I guess all I can do is what the little girl told me to do that wrote me the letter When she finished she said now get back over to the Oval Office and go to work Thank you all