Lend a Helping Hand


Red Cross Nurses Handing Out Wool for Knitting The United Nations declared that 2001 is the International Year of the Volunteer.

The month of January begins the year chosen to honor millions of volunteers worldwide. Every volunteer makes our world a better place—from Red Cross workers who aid people overseas to local soup kitchen volunteers.

Take time to thank volunteers who have made a difference in your life, or give a helping hand yourself and become a volunteer in your own community.

Pictured: William H. Johnson, 1901–70, Red Cross Nurses Handing Out Wool for Knitting, about 1942, gouache and pen and ink with pencil on paper, 17 3/8 x 21 7/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation.