On this Giving Tuesday, please help us make Peace Corps Park a reality and create a permanent space in our nation’s capital devoted to telling the rest of America’s story. There are so many ways to support our project: Find details and make a donation on our website.
Giving Tuesday: Your chance to make Peace Corps Park a reality
November 28, 2023
Giving Tuesday: Your chance to make Peace Corps Park a reality
Dear Supporters,
There are many reasons people choose to give, but one thing we all have in common is that we want to use our resources to make a positive impact. We have chosen to support the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation because we want to inspire generations of Americans to live our shared values of compassion, generosity and perseverance, and we hope you will join us.
Our project is unique: Peace Corps Park will tell a part of America’s story missing from Washington D.C.’s landscape of historic monuments and memorials, which honor political and military leaders, and those patriots who have given their lives for this country.
The countless Americans and visitors from all over the world who are inspired visiting these sacred spaces need to learn about the other side of the American ideal, a belief that all people are created equal and that, by working side-by-side in partnerships that cross the usual boundaries of society, we can make this world a better place.
As you surely know, the success of this project depends entirely on the support of people who believe in the values of service and selflessness embodied by the Peace Corps and the many other programs that mobilize and motivate people to give back to their communities. A gift to the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation is an investment in the “better angels of our nature,” and a vision of our society that is needed now more than ever.
Yours in service,
Glenn A. Blumhorst
Chief Advancement Officer
Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation
President and CEO, National Peace Corps Association (2013-22)
RPCV Guatemala (1988-91)
In partnership with the National Park Service
PEACE CORPS COMMEMORATIVE FOUNDATION
Compassion Generosity Perseverance
Please note our new preferred mailing address:
5636 Connecticut Avenue, NW Ste 42143
Washington, DC 20015
The Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation is the trade name of the Peace Corps Foundation,
a District of Columbia 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
EIN: 01-0554700
May Newsletter: Inspiring the next generation
Most people know me from the almost 30 years I’ve spent on television hosting educational shows about home improvement, but what most of them don’t know is that my journey started in the Peace Corps. When I went to Panama to serve as an urban community development volunteer in 1969, it was my first time working with my hands to help people build shelter. Seeing the impact of that work was transformative, and I’ve dedicated myself and my philanthropic efforts to the cause of homelessness ever since, inspired by the values of community partnership that are at the heart of Peace Corps service. When I made the decision to serve, I didn’t know a single person in my high school who was interested in the Peace Corps except me. But in Panama–and ever since–I found a community of like-minded people who understand that when we work together, we can build truly meaningful things. It’s up to us to make sure America never forgets that. Because it seems that society has shifted, with young people today seeming more preoccupied with the material world and losing sight of the importance of altruistic pursuits, and with people becoming more polarized than ever. I don’t know how to fix this culture, but I know that the Peace Corps, and its mission, is part of the answer. Peace Corps Park is a critical commitment to our shared legacy, not only because of its physical role among the monuments and memorials of Washington, D.C., but also because of the digital experience that will tell the story of the Peace Corps to a much wider audience. That is why I’ve chosen to make a donation , and to support the effort by sharing a bit of my story, because reminding the world about our commitment to peace and partnership is critical at a time when relationships with our allies are being tested every day. Not everything we build will stand forever, but our values certainly will, and we must make sure that happens. So please join me in supporting Peace Corps Park and help us build this inspiring vision in the heart of our nation’s capital. Thank you for your support,
April Newsletter: A robust, nonpartisan coalition for global peace and partnership
March Newsletter: Updated timeline: The path to Peace Corps Park takes shape
February Newsletter: Now is the time to show our strength in unity
January Newsletter: Our values need champions, and your voice matters
Dear Supporters, When I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic, trying to keep as low a profile as a six-foot tall red-headed American guy can, I remember a moment on a crowded bus when I felt a tap on my shoulder. A local man asked me, “are you from the Peace Corps?”, and told me that as a boy, his village didn’t have water until a Peace Corps Volunteer helped install a clean water system. He had never gotten the chance to thank that young man.
Dear Supporters, I write to you today as one of the thousands of Nepalis–and perhaps millions of people around the world–whose lives have been touched and transformed by their association with the Peace Corps.
Hon. Carrie Hessler-Radelet for Peace Corps Park: America needs Peace Corps Park, now more than ever
Dear Supporters, From my experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Samoa to my term as director of the Peace Corps, I have seen how lives are changed by people working together, through service, to further the cause of peace. That service is an important part of our nation's legacy. Americans have always stood for democracy, justice, equality, and service. The belief that what unites us is so much greater than that which divides us. The knowledge that, through service, we can create a better world together. These are the values that continue to draw people to our shores and reflect the best of America. Peace Corps Park is a space where stories of service will come alive—a place where we will celebrate the uniquely American spirit of Peace Corps dedicated to fostering understanding and building bridges of peace. It is a place where anyone, regardless of culture, race, faith, ethnicity, or background, can reflect upon the idea that we are all part of one human family. Peace Corps Park is more than a place on the map. It is a living, breathing testament to America’s compassion and perseverance in service of humanity. Please join me in ensuring that this symbol of the American idea becomes a reality, with a donation that will ensure future generations are inspired by the ideas that inspire us. Your generosity is not just an investment in a park; it is an investment in hope and the idea that, even in times of division, we can find common ground. That even when challenges feel insurmountable, we can persevere. That together, through compassion and action, we can create a world that reflects the very best of who we are. Many thanks for your support, and for your faith in the power of peace through service. Let’s work together to make our vision a reality. With warm regards,
Dear Supporters, When I was in Congress, they called me “Mr. Peace Corps” for my consistent advocacy on behalf of the agency that inspired me to 44 years of service in elected office. My two years in a poor barrio in Medellin, Colombia taught me how to listen to the needs of the people living around me to find real solutions to the problems felt by people in poverty everywhere. I learned that if someone has a safe place to sleep, access to education, and quality health care, then they have a chance in this world, and that philosophy has animated my lifelong commitment to service here in the U.S. The Peace Corps is a powerful idea that remains as bold as it was almost 65 years ago, and that boldness deserves a place among the monuments and memorials that decorate the landscape in Washington, D.C. Like me, tens of thousands of Peace Corps Volunteers learned how to hear, from listening in a foreign language and observing, from a place of total immersion, how to fix things abroad that also needed fixing back home. Our nation is stronger for it. Peace Corps Park is a ray of sunshine in a divided world, representing our belief that idealism gets results. Please join us in ensuring the Park becomes a reality at a time when we need to advocate loudly for our values . “Yes we can!” John F. Kennedy believed that telling the Peace Corps story back home was a lifetime commitment. I’m sure if he were alive now he’d still be saying, “Ask not what Peace Corps Park can do for you, but what you can do for the Park”. We are asking our community of supporters to help us raise the remaining amount needed to put shovels in the ground and to be part of the team that made this permanent symbol of peace and partnership in our nation’s capital a reality. Thank you. Give peace a chance. Sam Farr Peace Corps Colombia (1964-66) U.S. Congress, D-Carmel, Calif. (1993-2017)