A concert and 30 new homes mark Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday and long legacy of giving

Thalia Beaty and Glenn Gamboa, Associated Press

A use performance and nan building of 30 caller homes are among nan galore events marking President Jimmy Carter ‘s 100th day connected Oct. 1. Considering nan erstwhile president’s agelong bequest arsenic a philanthropist, it’s nary astonishment that he wants immoderate gift-giving to spell to different people.

The star-studded performance astatine Atlanta’s Fox Theatre earlier successful September raised money to support nan world programs of The Carter Center, which Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter founded successful 1982 pinch nan ngo to “ costs peace, conflict disease, and build hope.” The performance airs connected Georgia Public Broadcasting connected Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, thousands of Habitat for Humanity volunteers gathered Monday to build 30 homes successful St. Paul, Minnesota, complete 5 days, led by state euphony giants Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who worked alongside nan Carters for years, opening pinch projects successful Hurricane Katrina’s disaster area.

The Carters’ narration pinch Habitat for Humanity stretches backmost 40 years, to erstwhile nan mates went to New York City connected a build successful 1984.
“The image of a president of nan United States sleeping successful a religion basement and physically helping rehab a tenement building captured nan world,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. The Carters went connected to build homes annually for 35 years.

Carter many times said that moving pinch nan statement was a measurement he put his Christian religion into action, Reckford recalled.

Cleora Taylor, a aesculapian assistant, met nan Carters successful August 2018 erstwhile they helped build 41 caller homes successful South Bend and Mishawaka, Indiana.

Years later, Taylor recalled really nan erstwhile president greeted her by sanction and knew astir her children, including her daughter, who was 11 astatine nan clip and has autism.

“It intends truthful overmuch to maine that he knew me,” said Taylor, speaking from her surviving room successful nan location The Carters helped her build, connected a thoroughfare named Carter Court. “He’s conscionable specified a good, welcoming, humble guy. I’m conscionable gladsome to beryllium a portion of a bequest that he’s leaving behind.”

Presidential historiographer Cassandra Newby-Alexander, professor of Virginia Black history and civilization astatine Norfolk State University, said nan spot of Carter’s bequest is successful his morality. Unlike galore who declare to attraction astir nan disadvantaged, Carter has shown that they — and not powerfulness aliases money — are his main concern, Newby-Alexander said.

“I deliberation he has astir apt done much personally successful his post-presidency than anyone other because he’s not retired location looking for attention,” she said. “He’s looking to alteration things. He’s not retired location trying to make money for himself. He’s retired location trying to unrecorded nan life of a Christian — a existent Christian, 1 who cares astir nan mediocre and nan bum and nan children.”

While activity successful philanthropy is often gauged by nan size of donations aliases nan heft of assets nether management, Carter’s giving came successful nan shape of his seemingly ceaseless individual effort. From building homes to monitoring elections and pursuing nan elimination of a achy but neglected disease, Carter utilized his stature and beingness to rally resources and attraction to his causes.

“In truthful galore ways, he group nan modular for really presidents should beryllium successful their post-presidency, arsenic personification who is going to proceed to do good, personification who’s going to proceed to positively effect society,” Newby-Alexander said.

Carter’s bequest of giving backmost besides includes moving to eliminate Guinea worm, a committedness The Carter Center has made since 1986. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had identified nan illness arsenic a campaigner for eradication aft smallpox. Carter took up nan mantle, vowing to outlive nan past specified parasite.

“To nan demise of nan worm” is nan catchphrase, according to Dr. Jordan Tappero, lawman head for neglected tropical diseases astatine nan Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has fixed $263 cardinal to The Carter Center since 2000, mostly to support its activity connected Guinea worm.

The number of cases has fallen from 3.5 cardinal erstwhile nan halfway started to only 13 known cases successful humans successful 2022, and now focuses connected closing nan “last mile” of infections successful respective African countries. Even aft Carter entered hospice successful February 2023, Tappero said, Carter was still contacting his team.

“He still wants updates and wants to cognize what’s going connected because his mind will ne'er extremity until nan past heartbeat,” Tappero said, speaking successful March 2023.

Carter engaged straight pinch wellness ministries and heads of authorities to muster their committedness to nationalist wellness interventions, said Steven M. Hilton of nan Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Since 1991, nan instauration said it has committed astir $50 cardinal to The Carter Center for eradicating Guinea worm and to support its activity treating and controlling trachoma, a illness that tin origin irreversible blindness.
Hilton considers Carter to beryllium “a singular man pinch a profoundly compassionate heart.”

“I consciousness fortunate to person witnessed firsthand nan spot of his character, including his dedication to seeing tremendous humanitarian challenges done to nan end,” Hilton said successful a statement.

Tappero draws inspiration from nan Carters’ humility, power and dedication. “If we each had one-fifth of his energy, committedness and passion,” he said, “the world would beryllium a overmuch amended place.”

Taylor, who lives adjacent South Bend, Indiana, said she saw that committedness firsthand arsenic Carter, 93 astatine nan time, helped her put up a room wall successful her four-bedroom home.

“It was conscionable truthful astonishing that he still was retired here, extracurricular astatine that age, moving pinch us,” she said. “It made america want to activity harder.”
She still gets affectional reasoning astir that week, an unthinkable opportunity for her and her 4 kids.

“Not only did I get to meet Jimmy Carter and his woman and his children and hundreds of volunteers, different celebrities, I get to ain a portion of nan world. I get to ain a portion of land,” she said.

“I ne'er thought that I would beryllium capable to do thing for illustration that, being a azygous mother. And for them to person to put truthful overmuch into it, nan volunteers and for Jimmy Carter to really beryllium here? It was astonishing for group to attraction for illustration he cares.”