Peace Corps celebration begins in Fort Collins

FORT COLLINS - They come from all walks of life. Some are young, many are older. They all have one thing in common: the desire to help others.

They are Peace Corps volunteers and they are coming together in Fort Collins for a celebration of the organization that has strong ties to Colorado State University.

The events opened on a sad note with word of the death of Pauline Birky-Kreutzer, the Peace Corps' "founding mother." Birky-Kreutzer, along with CSU Professor Emeritus Maury Albertson, and graduate student Andrew Rice, published one of the original feasibility studies that led to the creation of the Peace Corps.

Birky-Kreutzer, 92, was recognized Friday along with Albertson and Rice during the opening of the Peace Corps & Friends Celebration, a three-day event highlighting CSU and Fort Collins' contribution to the organization.

"I think she would be very happy with the organization," Rice said after the opening event.

The organization, which President John F. Kennedy officially launched in 1961, has had more than 190,000 volunteers serve in 139 developing countries. CSU alumni made up 57 of those 190,000 in 2007.

"I think I can say that it lived up to our vision," said Rice, "It's something all Americans can be proud of."

The three days of events, hosted by Beet Street (www.beetstreet.org) and funded by the Downtown Business Association, are also to include talks by the director and deputy director of the Peace Corps, as well as Sunday's keynote address from Carl Pope the executive director of the Sierra Club.

There is an ongoing exhibition of photographs taken by Peace Corps volunteers at the Center for Fine Art Photography (www.c4fap.org) in Fort Collins. The exhibition selections, chosen by Anthony Bannon, Executive Director of the George Eastman House, highlight the similarities found by all Peace Corps volunteers no matter where and no matter when they served.