For more than 50 years, the week including Thanksgiving has been proclaimed National Family Week. In 2024, it is observed November 24-30, based on a proclamation issued by President Biden.
National Family Week has been proclaimed by every President of the United States since Richard Nixon in the early 1970s. As Ronald Reagan said in his first National Family Week proclamation as President:
"The family is the basic unit of our society, the heart of our free democracy. It provides love, acceptance, guidance, support, and instruction to the individual. Community values and goals that give America strength also take root in the home. In times of change and challenge, families keep safe our cultural heritage and reinforce our spiritual foundation.
As the mainstay of our national life, family life must be preserved. When a family needs external assistance to help it to perform its unique role, this assistance should not interfere with the family's fundamental responsibilities and prerogatives. Rather, aid should be supportive and purposeful in strengthening the family's stability, self-sufficiency and permanence.
National Family Week is a time to be thankful for the family as a national heritage and resource. It is a time to recommit ourselves to the concept of the family -- a concept that must withstand the trends of lifestyle and legislation. Let us pledge that our institutions and policies will be shaped to enhance an environment in which families can strengthen their ties and best exercise their beliefs, authority, and resourcefulness. And let us make our pledge mindful that we do so not only on behalf of individual family members but for AMERICA."
This observance was the idea of Mr. Sam Wiley, a teacher, basketball coach, and school administrator in Indiana who observed the stark difference in children who came from strong, supportive families and those who were not being raised in a traditional family unit. He conceived of the idea to set aside a time during Thanksgiving -- when families traditionally gather to give thanks for their many blessings -- to recognize the important role family plays in our society.
Source: https://nationalfamilyweek.us/
