Dear Supporters,

Most memorials and commemorative works – in Washington, D.C. and around the country – are edifices to the past: Honoring the sacrifices of former leaders and citizens, ensuring that they are not forgotten. What we are doing with Peace Corps Park is different. We believe the values of peace and partnership are eternal, and the spirit of service among younger generations will ensure that they are not relegated to a past era.  

The Peace Corps is in fact alive and well. In its resilience, it has emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and global evacuation better than ever, with previous and new host countries eagerly inviting the Peace Corps to send volunteers to partner with their communities. We applaud the more than 2,700 PCVs who are currently serving in 60 countries around the world, and the Peace Corps leadership that is raising the profile of the agency through innovative and creative tactics such as Each One Reach One, online marketing, and even television commercials issuing a bold challenge to serve. 

President Kennedy made the same bold challenge in his 1961 inaugural address, inspiring and igniting young people in the U.S. to "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." The sentiment that every person can make a difference is also expressed in the motto of the United States, "e pluribus unum", or “out of many we are one." It reminds us that anyone, of whatever background, can become an American and that we belong to a common humanity that stretches across the world. These values are as old as this country itself.

The Peace Corps manifests these American beliefs that individual lives matter; that every person can make an impact in their community; and that by living and working with mutual respect and trust alongside others beyond our shores, we are laying the groundwork for a better and more peaceful world.

Peace Corps Park will be a beacon of hope, a physical manifestation of our continued commitment to the eternal American values of partnership and multiculturalism. We thank you for being a part of it.

Yours in service,

Design Spotlight: One World, Carved in Stone

As an enduring symbol of global partnership and unity, every element of Peace Corps Park’s design reflects the deliberate choices that support our shared mission. It took months–years, even–to find the right partner to execute this vision in Larry Kirkland. This month we take a deeper look at the approach to the world map etched in granite at the center of Peace Corps Park, and the many thoughtful considerations that went into its design.

Ours is not the first attraction in Washington, D.C. to feature a world map depicted in granite – visitors to the U.S. Navy Memorial see a world map depicted in its central plaza. There, a focus on the world’s oceans motivates a presentation using two types of stone, separated with inlaid metal borders.

But Kirkland and his team designing Peace Corps Park are driven to represent one world, as accurately as possible, differentiating landforms and oceans with texture instead of borders and different types of granite. 

When dealing with textured stone though, you must ensure that it’s safe to walk on, and accessible to visitors using wheelchairs or other mobility aids. To get technical, that all comes down to the “coefficient of friction” - essentially, how slippery the surface is. This means that the highly-polished granite that would give the best color contrast would not meet our requirements for accessibility for all visitors.

The solution from our design Dream Team is to sandblast a texture through a stencil, carving ⅛-inch grooves into a 1-inch thick leathered, honed granite base. The grooves intersect within the landmasses instead of conforming to political borders, reinforcing the idea of the shared world we all inhabit.

“Talking to Peace Corps Volunteers, it’s the one-to-one connections they make during their service that are the most meaningful and impactful. So by making those grooves cross occasionally, that increases the coefficient of friction while supporting the symbolic value,” Kirkland said in describing the approach.

Similar thought has been given to the treatment of the oceans in Peace Corps Park’s central plaza design. Look out for more in our next newsletter.

Impactful New Additions to our Advisory Board

The Peace Corps Foundation’s Advisory Board serves as a champion for Peace Corps Park and a valuable source of strategic insight. Members provide their professional expertise, diverse knowledge of constituent perspectives, connections to local, national, and international resources and many other forms of assistance to help fulfill our mission. This month, we are honored to welcome Terry Lierman and Chris Matthews to the team. See the full list of Advisory Board members on our website.

Chris Matthews

Why I Give: Honoring a Life of Service

Fundraising Update

We continue to make progress toward our goal of $10 million, with $4.2 million raised since our campaign began. We gratefully acknowledge the following donors, who have made generous new contributions and/or pledges since July 25, 2024:

See our growing list of cumulative gifts to the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation

$10,000 - $24,999

Mary Martia Glass*

$5,000 - $9,999

Ambassador Thomas N. Hull and Jill P. Hull
Donald Lovett
Deidre Schilling family, in honor of Stephen W. Schilling

$1,000 - $2,499

Don Grandis
John Mello
Matthew Niskanen*
RPCVs of South Florida

Other gifts to $999

America's Charities
Thomas Appel
David Baur
Monique Berces-Mardenly
Victor Bullen
Charities Aid Foundation of America
Steven Choi
Luis A. Crouch
Bruce Edwards
Steve Ewing
Michael Fitzgerald
Francis and Chris Gaebler
Martin Gleason
Edward Kloth
Lea Loizos
George Steve Lowry
Irwin Oler
Barbara and Bill Oppenheimer
Christine Elizabeth Saudek
Victoria Tunba
University of Minnesota Retirees
  Association
Richard Vobroucek
Jean Wintermute
Christine Wrona Giallongo
Martin Zone

* New gift in addition to prior gift

Donations in memory of Abby Rosenstein (Senegal 2016)
Anonymous
Wendy & Steve Abrams
Susie and David Borovsky
Susan and Michael Fromm
Susie Goldstein
Sam Hershman and Jordan Miller
Steven Lowenstein
Theresa Manley
Sara Mollins
Cindy and David Pogrund
Terry Presslak
Kathy Raby
David and Karen Rosen
Sandy Rosen
Sheri Warsh - Levenfeld Pearlstein

PEACE CORPS PARK AMBASSADORS

(Donors making recurring monthly contributions of any size)

Anthony Carroll
Linda Barnett
Ellen Davis-Zapata
Elizabeth Downes
Greg Emerson
John Feighery
Ann Hopkins
Nancy Kelly
Laura Kettel Khan
Phil Lopes
Marty Mueller
Jessica Rogers
Kathleen Williams-Ging
Darrel Young

Save the Date to Honor the Values of Service

Join PCF’s Chief Advancement Officer Glenn Blumhorst at the 250 & Beyond Symposium, organized by The National Museum and Center for Service and Independent Sector, on October 9. The national campaign to honor, celebrate, and inspire American service marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and honors the values that Glenn works tirelessly for every day on behalf of Peace Corps Park.

This national initiative will kick off on October 9th with a hybrid Service Symposium featuring inspirational keynotes, panels of practitioners, networking opportunities and resources to bring exhibits of service to schools and communities across the country.

Connect with us on social media

Whether or not you’ve been able to support the project with a donation, an easy way to amplify your impact is to give us a boost on your social media platform of choice!

Follow us on any of the following networks, and re-share our posts to help raise awareness among your own community.

@PeaceCorpsPark on Instagram
@PeaceCorpsPark on Facebook 
@PeaceCorpsPark on LinkedIn
@PeaceCorpsPark on Twitter / X 

Connect with us in person

I continue to host small gatherings and meetings with key stakeholders around the country to build awareness of Peace Corps Park, and I’d love to connect with you or your group to let you know about the project and our vision for how it will bring our community together. Let me know if you’d like to arrange a meetup!

Sept. 30 - Oct. 3  Quebec City: Sierra Leone I Reunion

Oct 9  Washington, D.C. - 250 & Beyond Service Symposium