Jimmy Carter to Mark 100 Years With Concert, 30 New Homes

A benefit concert and the construction of 30 new homes are among the many events marking former President Carter's 100th birthday on Oct. 1, reports the AP. The star-studded concert at Atlanta's Fox Theatre earlier in September raised money to support the international programs of the Carter Center, which Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter founded in 1982 with the mission to "wage peace, fight disease, and build hope." The concert airs on Georgia Public Broadcasting on Oct. 1. More on the soon-to-be centenarian:

• Houses: Thousands of Habitat for Humanity volunteers gathered Monday to build 30 homes in St. Paul, Minnesota, over five days, led by country music giants Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who worked alongside the Carters for years. The Carters' relationship with Habitat for Humanity stretches back 40 years, to when the couple went to New York City on a build in 1984.

• More on those houses: "The image of a president of the United States sleeping in a church basement and physically helping rehab a tenement building captured the world," said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat. The Carters went on to build homes annually for 35 years.
• Legacy: "I think he has probably done more personally in his post-presidency than anyone else because he's not out there looking for attention," says presidential historian Cassandra Newby-Alexander, professor of Virginia Black history and culture at Norfolk State University. "He's not out there trying to make money for himself. He's out there trying to live the life of ... a true Christian, one who cares about the poor and the homeless and the children."
• A different kind of philanthropy: Carter's giving came in the form of his seemingly ceaseless personal effort, not so much his dollars. From building homes to monitoring elections and pursuing the elimination of a neglected disease, Carter used his stature and presence to rally resources and attention.

• Smallpox: The Carter Center made a commitment to eradicate Guinea worm disease in 1986. Carter vowed to outlive the last such parasite. Even after Carter entered hospice in February 2023, says Dr. Jordan Tappero, deputy director for neglected tropical diseases at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has given $263 million to the Carter Center since 2000, Carter was still contacting his team. "He still wants updates and wants to know what's going on because his mind will never stop until the last heartbeat," Tappero said in March 2023.
• And back to Habitat: Cleora Taylor met the Carters in 2018 when they helped build 41 new homes in South Bend and Mishawaka, Indiana. Taylor said Carter, 93 at the time, helped her put up a kitchen wall in her four-bedroom home. "It was just so amazing that he still was out here, outside at that age, working with us," she said. "It made us want to work harder. Not only did I get to meet Jimmy Carter and his wife and his children. ... I get to own a piece of the world."

(More Jimmy Carter stories.)