Photo: Deputy Chief of Mission Timothy Betts (left) presents the Award to Red Cross President György Habsburg (middle) and Director General István Kardos (Embassy photo by Attila Németh)

Remarks by Deputy Chief of Mission Timothy Betts at the Hungarian Red Cross Active Citizenship Award Ceremony

Thank you, President Habsburg, Director General Kardos, county directors and managers for letting me have a few minutes at your country-wide management meeting to express our appreciation for the important work you are doing here in Hungary.

Back in January, we at the American Embassy launched an initiative to recognize individuals and organizations that are working to make a difference in their communities. This has taken us across the country from large cities to small towns where we have recognized organizations such as Baptist Aid, corporations that are engaged in meaningful corporate social responsibility programs and even a small town entrepreneur who started after school sports programs for local children. But no list of awardees would be complete without the Hungarian Red Cross.

Active citizens can be found all over the world and come from many different backgrounds. They are defined not by the issue they address, but by their actions –getting involved in their communities about whatever they believe in, to try to make their communities better.

No organization is more well-known for this than the Red Cross. Established in 1863 in Switzerland to care for and protect wounded soldiers, the Red Cross Movement has now spread to virtually every country, expanding its mission and scope to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The founding of your organization was announced on May 16, 1881, just a few days before the founding of the American Red Cross on May 21 of that year. Your organization has since grown to include 3000 chapters able mobilize up to 40,000 volunteers annually.

During my time in Hungary, I’ve seen first-hand how the Hungarian Red Cross springs into action when disaster strikes. Ambassador Kounalakis visited Northern Hungary with President Habsburg to see the response to the 2010 floods and I am proud that the U.S. government was able to provide two boats as part of our US Agency for International Development disaster relief assistance that continue to be used for water rescue today.

We observed the Hungarian Red Cross’s response to the Red Sludge disaster, and we are very supportive and appreciative of your blood donation drives, which the Embassy has helped sponsor and continues to participate in, including just a few weeks ago, on September 11th.

But beyond the material support provided by the Hungarian Red Cross, the great success of the movement has been its ability to get individuals and organizations involved in community activities.

I know one of the programs you are justifiably very proud of is the Hungarian Red Cross’ Seven Wonders Experience Camp, which is run by the youth section and brings together children from diverse backgrounds and cultures to help bridge divides and promote understanding and tolerance. This program is dependent on the good will of corporate sponsors, who share the same goals and vision as the Red Cross as well as the volunteers who run the camps.

It is in this way that the Hungarian Red Cross excels at bringing together those with money and time and those who can benefit the most. It gets people involved in helping people, the essence of active citizenship. It is truly a remarkable organization, which is why I’d like to now present the Embassy’s Active Citizenship Award for the Hungarian Red Cross to President Gyorgy Habsburg.

Thank you.

Source: U.S. Embassy Budapest