Habitat for Humanity CEO reflects on Carter's impact, work ethic
ATLANTA - Flowers and notes continued to stack up at the Carter Center on Tuesday. One noticeable addition was a blue safety helmet. It was placed there by Habitat for Humanity CEO Jonathan Reckford.
Habitat for Humanity started in 1976, but Reckford says it was not until 1984 when the Carters got involved that the organization became well known.
"He had a legendary work ethic. Habitat for Humanity was the best way for him to put his faith into action in a very tangible way. Because of his example and inspiration, Habitat's been able to help over 62 million people have new or improved housing," said Reckford.
Reckford says a lot of folks liked the idea of working alongside President Carter on a Habitat build.
"I would always warn them it's a great honor, but you need to be prepared because if you're working on a Carter house, he had a ferocious work ethic. You did not want to be on the build site slacking off and kind of catch that blue eyed submarine commander glare from him," said Reckford.
The former President would begin each build with a devotion, then pick up a hammer and get to work alongside all the other volunteers. It was something he did for decades.
"I remember one time we were building in Canada, working hard and we were carrying something, and he said, 'You know this isn't quite as much fun as back when I was 80", and he was 93 I think that year," said Reckford.
The Source: This article is based on original reporting by FOX 5's Denise Dillon.