The Word - TRICK OR TREAT FOR UNICEF LAUNCH (2004)

It's great to be here and to get such a warm reception from all of you. And I'd like to thank the entire U.S. Fund for UNICEF family for asking me to be the Spokesperson of the 2004 Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign.

It always gives me a lot of satisfaction to talk to young people who are volunteering to help others, because I'm a volunteer myself. About a year ago, I became a U.S. Fund for UNICEF National Ambassador. It was a real honor for me, because when I was a little girl I carried the orange collection carton with me on Halloween, and it made me feel good to know that I was helping kids around the world. It's one of those memories that makes me smile when I think about it, and the fact that I can still make a difference for children as an adult makes me even happier.

All of us are part of a great cause, the work of UNICEF. UNICEF has a straightforward agenda –– to save, protect, and improve the lives of children. Whether a child is at risk for disease or malnutrition, caught in the horrors of war, the victim of exploitive labor practices, or has been denied a basic education, UNICEF is there, with health care, clean water, nutrition, school supplies . . . whatever is needed to provide that child with what he or she needs to survive, and thrive. UNICEF's approach is to use low-cost, simple, but highly effective solutions –– solutions that have worked to dramatically improve the lives of children in the 58 years since UNICEF began its work.

In May, I had the opportunity to travel to Angola on my first UNICEF field trip. Angola is on the western coast of Africa and life is hard for children in this beautiful country. They don't have clean water to drink or enough food to eat or medicine when they get sick. But they have hope because they know that children like you are thinking of them. And when you Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF you help kids around the world just like the ones I met in Angola .

I'd like to get young people of all ages involved in Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, because I really believe that together our efforts can change the world.

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF began in Philadelphia in 1950. A group of children just like you had the idea of raising money on Halloween to help hungry children all over the world. That year, they raised $17. That doesn't sound like much does it? But since then, children in the United States have raised over $123 million by Trick-or-Treating for UNICEF

There are lots of things we take for granted. Like having a warm blanket at night, getting the chance to go to school, having clean water, and seeing a doctor when we need one. These things may seem ordinary to many of us, but they simply do not exist in many of the countries UNICEF works in. It's great to know that by becoming part of Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, we can all work together to give each child the chance to have an ordinary childhood.

So here's to an exciting Halloween that will bring help to many children around the world. Remember that every one of you here today can be a hero to the world's poorest children and Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. And you'll see what a wonderful feeling it is to know that you helped change someone's life for the better.