WASHINGTON – Charles Hunt of Denver, Colorado, is a former Peace Corps volunteer who has been nominated for the agency’s Lillian Carter Award, which honors outstanding individuals who volunteered at age 50 or above. Hunt served with the Peace Corps in Vanuatu as a business enterprise volunteer from 2006 to 2008, along with his wife, Nancy Cole. He is among the top ten nominees for the award, for which the Peace Corps received more than 70 nominations.
Hunt was instrumental in implementing a partnership agreement between the Peace Corps and Rotary International at the grassroots level, connecting Peace Corps recruiters with Rotary Clubs across the nation to promote the message of world peace and friendship. Under his lead, Denver LoDo Rotary Club executed a project with volunteers in Vanuatu to test smokeless cook stoves and how they would be accepted by women over there. Also, as president of the returned Peace Corps volunteers of Colorado, he has made immigrant/refugee issues a core focus of the organization’s community service, so that other returned volunteers can use the knowledge and skills gained in service to assist new members of the Denver community.
He describes Peace Corps service as “life changing, if you can image even for a person advancing in years.”
Established in 1986, the Lillian Carter Award was created in honor of President Jimmy Carter's mother, Lillian Carter, who, at age 68, served as a Peace Corps health volunteer in India. Lillian Carter’s commitment to Peace Corps service was an extension of her dedication to humanitarian efforts at home and abroad.
Nominees for this award have demonstrated a commitment to civic engagement and service, with a track record of supporting the Peace Corps’ mission. They also have a history of advancing the Peace Corps' Third Goal of strengthening Americans' understanding of the world and its people.
“Nearly 14,000 older Americans have answered the call to service and advanced the Peace Corps’ mission of promoting world peace and friendship. These volunteers bring their rich life experiences to the communities they serve,” said Acting Peace Corps Director Carol Spahn. “The Lillian Carter Award is given to one outstanding senior volunteer who demonstrates that service–both at home and abroad–can be impactful at any age.”
Upon completing Peace Corps service in 2008, Hunt joined the nonprofit Downtown Denver Partnership, designing and managing a tree health program for commercial properties. Upon his retirement in 2018, nearly 2,000 trees were maintained. As co-chair of Golden Triangle Creative District’s neighborhood improvements committee, he continues to plant trees in his neighborhood, often seen on Saturday mornings as part of the cleanup team.
“My dad was old school and he brought me up to do the things I can and don’t expect to be thanked. So to be among the top nominees is surprising, but then truly an honor which fills me with great emotion. My dad would be thrilled too,” he said.
Over 240,000 American citizens—13,898 of whom served over the age of 50—have dedicated themselves to promoting world peace and friendship since the Peace Corps was established 60 years ago in 1961.