 Thank you very much. Well, thank you very much for the applause. But believe me, today it's the other way around. I'm here to applaud you. And this is a particularly fitting time to be holding this luncheon. Today is the first working day of National Volunteer Week. And we've just entered a national year of volunteerism. Now I want to begin by expressing my thanks here to some volunteers who've made this occasion possible. I'm talking, of course, about George Romney and Clemstone. I remember from our days as governor how much interest George took in volunteerism. And fortunately for all of us, it's an interest that he's continued with up until this day. And what can you say about Clemstone if he doesn't qualify for most generous American who can? Now there's one lady here today who isn't getting an award, but is someone who really ought to be mentioned. Her name is Edith Westerman. And she volunteers full time and sometimes works a lot more than full time in our private sector initiatives office here at the White House. And Edie, from all of us, thanks for your help in today's event and throughout the year. You know, there's a fair amount of paperwork in this job that I'm currently holding, homework too. You want to see the stacks of stuff that I lug upstairs every night. It's a good thing that I go home from work in an elevator. Some of it, in fact, a lot of it is not exactly the sort of thing that would be your first choice for bedtime reading. But I want you to know that recently I've had a chance to do some reading that not only riveted my attention, but filled my heart with pride. It's a feeling I know all Americans would share if they too had a chance to see what I see. I'm referring to the citations for the awards that you're receiving today and the descriptions of the incredible work that you've done through your organizations or as individuals to better a lot of others. What magnificent stories there are to tell about each of you. You've run jobs and health programs. You've helped the unemployed and the handicapped. You held out a helping hand to those who were forgotten or shunned or can't help themselves, drug addicts and prostitutes and convicts. You've started worldwide relief agencies and community colleges. You've run Vietnam veterans hiring programs and Indian culture schools. You've helped provide orthopedic shoes and braces for crippled children. You've donated clothes and school supplies for underprivileged children. In fact, I can assure you that every time my staff and I thought we would single out a person or an organization for these citations, we came across somebody else who was just as worthy of mention. Each one of you has made a personal sacrifice to do the work that you did. None of you ever expected any rewards for what you did. Many times I'm sure there were doubts and lots of discouragement and it took real courage to carry on. We've had a lot of heroes at ceremonies here at the White House during the past few years. Our shuttle astronauts, for example, or our Marines and Rangers from the Grenada Expedition. But believe me, you stand as tall in your own way as any of them. What you've done is in the finest tradition of your country. You know, it was that Frenchman Detocqueville, so often quoted by after-dinner speakers, who, when he came here in the 1830s, reflected in awe about American volunteerism. He said, these Americans are the most peculiar people in the world. You will not believe me when I tell you how they behave. In a local community in their country, a citizen may conceive of some need which is not being met. What does he do? He goes across the street, discusses it with his neighbor, and then what happens? A committee comes into existence. And the committee begins functioning in behalf of the need. And he went on to say that no bureaucrats were involved at all, just the people did it. Well, each of you here today has demonstrated this unique American spirit of volunteerism, partnership, and innovation. In your own way, you're working to resolve issues in a more effective manner than we could do with large federal programs. Personal dedication and commitment seem to be the underlying key to success in all of your efforts. And in the three years since we started these awards, we've seen an ever-increasing rise in people actively helping their neighbors. So I want to applaud you today and thank you on behalf of all your fellow Americans. Every one of us is grateful to you. As members of your families and communities and citizens of our country, you've been an inspiration and an example to us. But most of all, we're grateful for the people you've helped, for the people whose lives you've touched and whose burdens you've lifted because you cared enough to extend a helping hand and a warm heart. And now, with the assistance of Tom Paughan of Action and George Romney, I'd like to have the pleasure of handing out your awards. If each representative of the awardees would come up to the left of me, James F. Buck Bershears, La Junta, Colorado. 50 years ago when Buck Bershears assumed responsibility for a Boy Scout troupe, he decided to mesh his interest in American Indian lore with the troupe's activities. Today, the resulting Kashara Indian dancers continue to research, preserve, and demonstrate Indian dance and culture. Over the years, the troupe's performances have raised over $10 million to build an Indian museum near La Junta. Under Buck's leadership, over 525 boys have attained the rank of Eagle Scout, a record more than five times the national average. Buck Bershears. Nick Monreal, San Antonio, Texas. Eight years ago, Nick Monreal founded Teach the Children, a program designed to raise funds to buy school supplies for underprivileged children. The first year Teach the Children raised $350 and assisted 284 children. By 1983, the program raised $106,000 and assisted over 9,000 children in 10 school districts. The program is currently expanding into the Rio Grande Valley and will be replicated throughout the state of Texas in 1985. Nick Monreal, San Antonio, Texas. Friends of Copper Mountain College. When the residents of the sparsely populated Moronga Basin lost their eligibility for funds for a much needed community college facility, a group of area citizens joined together to raise the funds themselves to build their own college. Working with the goal of a community college built by the community, they began their fundraising with the sale of two rugs quilted by senior citizens. Within 18 months, the group had raised $1,850,000 enough to build the first buildings and construct the necessary roads. Howard Van Elgort. Elizabeth Cooper to Williger, Mill Valley, California. Long before ecology became a household word, Elizabeth Cooper to Williger pioneered environmental education in Marin County, California. For 30 years, she has conducted her bird in the hand program out of a van outfitted as a nature laboratory and through Mr. President. This is not part of what I was going to say. And I thought I wasn't going to say it, but now I am. You know, a little earlier this morning, it was drizzling outside. And Mr. Williger came a little early and she noticed that some tourists have left some wrappers and other items around the White House. And here she was before she came here, helping to clean the place up outside the White House. Oh, special. Will you all please say after me, please, this is my country. Wherever I go, I will leave it more beautiful than I found it. Now put your arms above your shoulders. When you go for a walk, I want you to look up and see what's there. We say V for vulture, let's say that. Now put your arms out straight, straight out for a hop, let's say that. Now go slowly, never in a hurry for a seagull, let's say that. Now always in a hurry for a duck, and say paddle overhand for a raven and a crow, let's say that. Paddle overhand for a raven and a crow. Now be a great blue heron and bring the air to you like this. There we go, ug. Now put your arms out, put some red on your head and your gray rings, a gray. The heart act to follow, isn't it? Bill and Pat Barton, Naples, Florida. In 1978, concerned by the use of drugs by children in their community, the Bartons and other parents formed Naples and formed parents. In 1980, as a result of the success of the local program, the Bartons joined with parents from 20 states to form the National Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth. The Federation has continued to grow and today involves over 4,000 parent groups throughout the country. Bill served as the first president of the organization and for nine months ran the Federation out of the Barton home. Pat served as development chairman and wrote two educational manuals for the group, Bill and Pat Barton, Naples, Florida. Ray Villarreal, El Paso, Texas. Every Sunday morning for the past 18 years, Ray Villarreal, who runs a corrective shoe business in El Paso, Texas, has driven across the border to Juarez, Mexico to fit orthopedic shoes, braces, and artificial limbs for crippled children. On Christmas, 1983, he distributed shoes and toys to over 3,000 Mexican children and organized a clothing drive for El Paso children that resulted in five truckloads of donated clothing. Ray also has organized orthopedic clinics in Juarez through the Shriners Hospitals. Ray Villarreal, El Paso, Texas. The corporate angel network White Plains, New York. Because it is frequently necessary for cancer patients to travel long distances for treatment, J. Weinberger and Priscilla Bloom joined together to form the corporate angel network. The network utilizes the vast resources of empty seats on the schedule flights of corporate jets that cross the country daily. Still growing, the program now involves aircraft belonging to over 250 corporations and labor unions and provides some 20 flights per month, J. Weinberg. Children of the Night, Hollywood, California. Every year, thousands of teenage boys and girls, many of them alone without any support, arrive in Los Angeles and soon gravitate toward the Hollywood area. Many are befriended by the pimps who converge there and who offer attention, drugs, and promises of easy money. Soon they are caught up in a life of prostitution. In 1979, Dr. Lois Lee founded Children of the Night, a community-supported program designed to help these young people find a way to begin leading profitable lives. The program includes a telephone hotline and assistance with jobs or returning home. Since the program, Dr. Lee and the volunteers have provided temporary shelter for over 250 young prostitutes, Dr. Lois Lee. America's Foundation, New Canaan, Connecticut. Robert McCauley founded America's in 1979 to provide needed relief supplies to countries around the world. Since then, the foundation has made 21 major shipments of medicines, pharmaceutical supplies, and new clothing valued at over 14 and a half million dollars to Poland, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Guatemala, and El Salvador. At Christmas, the foundation sent five million chocolate covered nutrition bars and two million disposable diapers to Poland, each carton marked from the kids of the US to the kids of Poland with love. Robert McCauley, America's Careers Foundation. Irene Auburn, Detroit, Michigan. Irene Auburn founded World Medical Relief in 1953 as a way of sharing surplus medicines and medical supplies from the United States with medical facilities and countries with limited resources. Since its founding, World Medical Relief volunteers have sent nearly 6,000 tons of needed materials worth half a billion dollars to missionary doctors, hospitals, and clinics in countries such as Haiti, Pakistan, Ghana, Taiwan, the Philippines, South American countries, and other nations throughout the world. Irene Auburn, Detroit, Michigan. I want to first offer this great honor and glory to God for permitting us to be just a small part of his work. And I will be 88 in five months, and I hope the good Lord will let me live to be 100 if I can keep on helping God's sick poor worldwide. The Delaware Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program, Wilmington, Delaware. The Delaware VVLP was formed to serve the state's veterans population with a special emphasis on the 25,000 Vietnam-era veterans. One main emphasis of the buddy system program is assisting veterans in their search for employment. The VVLP works with the Delaware corporate community has sponsored and has sponsored successful job fairs. Since 1981, the VVLP has placed a tremendous number of unemployed Vietnam veterans into worthwhile, non-subsidized jobs. Wayne Hamby, director of the program. Chris Stout, Everett, Washington. Soon after Chris Stout moved to the farming community of Everett, Washington with her husband and four young children, she realized that while there were many families struggling to make ends meet, there was an enormous amount of food going to waste in the nearby fields after harvest. As a result, she founded a gleaning program in a household thrift shop known as Sparrow Ministries. Today, there are over 150 families involved in this program, Chris Stout, Everett, Washington. The Knights of Columbus, New Haven, Connecticut. Through the 8,000 chapters of the Knights of Columbus, more than 1.4 million people are active in community activities each year. The $52 million raised by the Knights assisted local charitable causes, disaster victims, churches, homes for the aged and orphans, scholarship and educational programs, schools and libraries. In addition to the fundraising activities, Knights spent more than 13.4 million manhours in community service to youth hospitals, orphanages, and the Catholic Church. William J. Von Tassel. Volunteer for Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota. The Minnesota Office on Voluntary Services developed the Volunteer for Minnesota program in 1981 as a mechanism to assist communications throughout the state in meeting their unique needs through local partnerships. A 50-member planning committee developed handbooks and manuals, promotional materials, and a training program designed to facilitate local development of effective citizen involvement programs. The program involved over 150 volunteers at the local level and was funded by 20 Minnesota Corporations and Foundations, Jackie Sinkin, Volunteer for Minnesota. Tom Rader, Palos, California. For the past eight years, Tom Rader, a disabled Vietnam veteran, has served as a volunteer probation officer with the Merced County Probation Department, supervising and counseling up to 20 adult and juvenile probationers at a time. He's also developed a program through which young people can be assigned to alternative work programs in lieu of jail sentencing. He teaches gun handling classes and establish a much-needed neighborhood watch program in Palos. Tom Rader, Palos, California. Glenn Williams, Seattle, Washington. Since his release from Alcatraz 23 years ago, Glenn Williams has devoted his life to aiding families of incarcerated men and the inmates upon their release. In 1972, he founded Attica Inc., an organization which provides transportation for families to visit their husbands and fathers in prison. In 1981, Glenn founded Teen Intercept, a program aimed at educating high school and college-age young people about the dangerous consequences of the illegal use of drugs and alcohol. Glenn Williams, Seattle, Washington. San Diego Imperial County's Labor Council AFL-CIO, San Diego, California. The Labor Council formed the Unemployment Information and Assistance Center to address needs of unemployed members in the San Diego area. Working together with other local agencies, the council recruited 350 active volunteers, both employed and unemployed, to conduct food drives, assist with preparation of food packages and distribution of surplus commodities. In 1983, the council distributed over 35 tons of food to the families of unemployed workers, Joseph Francis, representing the San Diego Imperial County's Labor Council AFL-CIO. Late-off employees' assistance program, Armco, Middletown, Ohio. In November 1982, a group of blue and white collar workers at Armco formed the LEAP program to assist the more than 1,100 steel workers laid off at the company's Middletown Works. Over 600 employees volunteered to raise funds, provide assistance with creditors, develop lists of social service agencies, and assist in the search for employment. In all, they raised over $278,000 and arranged for a local supermarket chain to provide substantial discounts to the unemployed workers, Barbara Hamilton with LEAP. Levi Strauss and company San Francisco, California. For over 130 years, the philosophy of the Levi Strauss company has been that being in business means more than making a profit. Levi Strauss originated the community involvement team concept, and today, company-sponsored CITs are active in 52 communities. The teams analyze local problems and develop their own programs to meet local needs. The company provides technical assistance and training support to the CITs. Walter Haas Jr., Levi Strauss and company. Mr. President, on behalf of Action and Volunteer, all of the members of the advisory council, and I'm sure all of the award winners, we want to thank you for your personal leadership in beginning these awards and making this event possible again today. Thank you, sir. Thank you. I was supposed to be through now, but I just have one word that I just can't help but say here. I asked a question once. It wasn't original with me. It had first been asked by an admiral standing on the bridge of a carrier at the time of the Korean War when planes were taking off on a night mission. And as he watched them go, he asked, where do we find such men? I asked the question after an evening, some years ago, I was still in California, when we had been in the company of the first of the returning POWs from Vietnam. And I said it to Nancy, where did we find them to hearing them all evening? And the answer came to me as quickly as I'd asked the question. I have only repeated it or told this with regard to incidents of that kind. But believe me, it fits today. Where do we find such people as you? And the answer is, just as it was with those others, where we've always found them, the product of the freest, the most generous, and the greatest social structure that has ever been devised by man, just the product of Main Street and the farms and the cities and towns of America. All of you, God bless you all for reaffirming what this country is all about. Thank you.