President Trump declared the week of Oct. 15-21 National Character Counts Week in a proclamation Friday.

"We celebrate National Character Counts Week because few things are more important than cultivating strong character in all our citizens, especially our young people," Trump said. "As parents, educators, and civic and church leaders, we must always work to cultivate strength of character in our Nation's youth."

"Character can be hard to define, but we see it in every day acts — raising and providing for a family with loving devotion, working hard to make the most of an education, and giving back to devastated communities," the statement continues. "Character is forged around kitchen tables, built in civic organizations, and developed in houses of worship."

The presidential proclamation is an annual event that stretches back to the Clinton administration. Every year since 1993, the president has signed a proclamation and the Senate has passed a joint resolution declaring the third week in October National Character Counts Week, according to the Josephson Institute's World Character Counts Week website.

The Josephson Institute is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 with the mission to "improve the ethical quality of society by changing personal and organizational decision making behavior."

Here is the full proclamation: