Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter honored with first-ever CNN Heroes Legacy Award

CNN announced its “Heroes of the Year” awards on Sunday night and for the first time ever, CNN also awarded a “Heroes Legacy Award.”

The inaugural winner? It’s former President Jimmy Carter and his late wife first lady Rosalynn Carter. CNN recognized Georgia’s favorite couple for their lifetime commitment to community service.

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Rosalynn Carter died in November at the age of 96. Jimmy Carter has been in hospice care since February. The Carters’ granddaughter Sarah Carter accepted the award on her grandparents’ behalf.

“My grandparents had the ability to envision the world as it should be with astonishing moral clarity and the audacity and determination to pursue that vision over decades. And they touched so many people’s lives along the way,” Sarah Carter said.

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The Carter family has committed their lives to several notable causes.

Jimmy Carter has worked in partnership with Habitat for Humanity since the mid-1980s. He earlier volunteered with the organization in Americus, Georgia where it was founded.

Rosalynn Carter made it her life mission to advocate for mental health. She played a key role in the passage of a federal law requiring insurance to pay for mental health treatment on par with physical illnesses.

President and Mrs. Carter were the longest-ever married presidential couple, having wed in 1946.

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