REMARKS WELCOMING VISTA VISITORS
BALTIMORE

January 5, 1966

As the Governor of Maryland, it is a pleasure to welcome to our
State those of you who have volunteered your services to assist in the
great battle that is being waged to repel the forces of poverty. As
President Johnson has said, you will be working at low pay under often
difficult conditions. But you will have the inner satisfaction of know-
ing that you are engaged in a cause to relieve the suffering of your
fellow man, and your reward is in the service itself.

The State of Maryland is proud of the fact that the School of Social
Work of its University was selected by the Office of Economic Oppor-
tunity as one of the VISTA training centers. We know the center is
well-equipped to offer you the training that will be required for the
exacting, arduous work that will face you when you go out into the
field to help poor people in all kinds of situations. I am pleased that
you have been selected for training in our Maryland training center,
and I hope that your brief stay in Baltimore will be both pleasant
and rewarding.

Finally, may I say that you have earned the gratitude of all of us
in the benevolent action you have taken to offer your time, your
talent, your experience to the great effort our country is making to
relieve the suffering of the impoverished and to eliminate, insofar as
is possible, poverty in our great land. It is a pleasure to have you with
me here this morning. I wish you a full measure of happiness and
success in the task you have undertaken.

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