A Benefit concert and the construction of 30 new houses are among the many events taking place this year President Jimmy Carter ‘S 100th birthday on October 1st. Considering the former president’s long history as a philanthropist, it’s no surprise that he wants his gifts to benefit other people.

The star-studded concert at Atlanta’s Fox Theater in early September has raised $1.2 million to date to support its international programs The Carter Center, which Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter founded in 1982 with the mission: “ make peaceFighting Disease and Creating Hope.” The concert will air October 1 on Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Meanwhile, thousands of Habitat for Humanity volunteers gathered Monday to build 30 homes over five days in St. Paul, Minnesota, led by country music giants Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwoodwho worked with the Carters for years, starting with projects in the Hurricane Katrina disaster area.

The Carters’ relationship with Habitat for Humanity dates back 40 years, to when the couple went to New York City to build in 1984.

“The image of a President of the United States sleeping in the basement of a church and physically helping to renovate an apartment building swept the world,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. The Carters built houses every year for 35 years. Carter repeatedly said that working with the organization was a way to put his Christian faith into action, Reckford recalled.

Cleora Taylor, a medical assistant, met the Carters in August 2018 when they helped build 41 new homes in South Bend and Mishawaka, Indiana.

Years later, Taylor recalled how the former president greeted her by name and knew about her children, including her daughter, then 11, who has autism.

“It meant so much to me that he knew me,” Taylor said from her living room in the house the Carters helped her build, on a street called Carter Court. “He’s just such a good, welcoming, humble guy . I’m just happy to be part of the legacy he leaves behind.”

Presidential historian Cassandra Newby-Alexander, a professor of Virginia Black history and culture at Norfolk State University, said the strength of Carter’s legacy lies in his morals. Unlike many who claim to care about the disadvantaged, Carter has shown that they – and not power or money – are his primary concern, Newby-Alexander said.

“I think he’s probably accomplished more personally in his post-presidency period than anyone else because he’s not out there looking for attention,” she said. “He wants to change things. He’s not out there trying to make money for himself. He’s out there trying to live the life of a Christian – a true Christian who cares about the poor, the homeless and children.”

While leadership in philanthropy is often measured by the size of donations or the amount of assets under management, Carter’s giving came in the form of his seemingly relentless personal commitment. From house building to… Monitoring elections and to seek the elimination of a painful but neglected disease, Carter used his stature and presence to attract resources and attention to his causes.

“In many ways, he set the standard for what presidents should be in their post-presidency: as someone who will continue to do good, as someone who will continue to have a positive impact on society,” Newby-Alexander said .

Carter’s legacy of giving back also includes work to eradicate Guinea worm, a commitment the Carter Center has made since 1986. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had identified the disease as a candidate for eradication after smallpox. Carter took up the mantle and vowed to outlive the last parasite of its kind.

“To the demise of the worm” is the watchword, says Dr. Jordan Tappero, deputy director for neglected tropical diseases at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has donated $263 million to the Carter Center since 2000, primarily to support its work on Guinea worm.

The number of cases has fallen from 3.5 million when the center began to just 13 known human cases in 2022 and is now focused on closure the “last mile” of infections in several African countries. Even after that Carter was placed in hospice As of February 2023, Tappero said, Carter was still in touch with his team.

“He still wants updates and wants to know what’s going on because his mind won’t stop until the last heartbeat,” Tappero said in March 2023.

Carter worked directly with health departments and state leaders to galvanize their commitment to public health interventions, said Steven M. Hilton of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Since 1991, the foundation says it has given nearly $50 million to the Carter Center to eradicate Guinea worm and support its work to treat and combat trachoma, a disease that can cause irreversible blindness.

Hilton considers Carter “a remarkable man with a deeply compassionate heart.”

“I feel fortunate to have witnessed firsthand the strength of his character, including his commitment to meeting enormous humanitarian challenges to the end,” Hilton said in a statement.

Tappero draws inspiration from the Carters’ humility, energy and dedication. “If we all had a fifth of his energy, commitment and passion,” he said, “the world would be a much better place.”

Taylor, who lives near South Bend, Indiana, said she saw that commitment firsthand when Carter, then 93, helped her build a kitchen wall in her four-bedroom home.

“It was just incredible that he was still out here working with us at that age,” she said. “It made us want to work harder.”

She still gets emotional thinking about this week, an incredible opportunity for her and her four children.

“Not only did I get to meet Jimmy Carter and his wife and children and hundreds of volunteers and other celebrities, I also got to own a piece of the world. I get to own a piece of land,” she said.

“I never thought I would be able to do something like this as a single mother. And that they, the volunteers, have to invest so much and that Jimmy Carter is actually here? It was amazing that people cared about him as much as he did.”

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Associated Press Writer Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this story.

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