{"id":7867,"date":"2019-11-24T07:23:40","date_gmt":"2019-11-24T11:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=7867"},"modified":"2019-11-24T07:23:43","modified_gmt":"2019-11-24T11:23:43","slug":"greet-the-new-aarp-purpose-prize-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=7867","title":{"rendered":"Greet the New AARP Purpose Prize Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Purpose
2019 Purpose Prize winners Georgette Bennett, Paul Leon, Shirley Acevedo Buontempo, Sister Edna Lonegran, Wintley Phipps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Ten-year-old Shirley Acevedo Buontempo didn\u2019t speak a word of English when her family emigrated to the United States from Puerto Rico in 1973. Seven years later, she was the first in her family to go to college. \u201cMy mother was always insistent that I was going to go to college,\u201d Buontempo, now 56, said. \u201cShe had a dream for me, and it transformed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Shirley Acevedo Buontempo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today, Buontempo is the founder of Latino U. College Access <\/a>(LUCA) in White Plains, N.Y, a nonprofit that helps first-generation low-income Latino students enroll in and graduate from college. And AARP announced today that Buontempo\u2019s work \u2014 and the work of four others \u2014 is being honored by winning the 2019-2020 AARP Purpose Prize<\/a>. (My interview with Buontempo, and an AARP video of one of the new Purpose Prize winners, are at the end of this article.)<\/p>\n

Read on PBS Next Avenue<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Who Gets the AARP Purpose Prize<\/h3>\n

The AARP Purpose Prize award goes to impressive people 50+ using their life experience to create social change. Each Purpose Prize winner receives $60,000. AARP also just tapped nine AARP Purpose Prize Awards Fellows \u2014 basically runners-up \u2014 who will each receive a $5,000 award to further the mission of their organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been impressed by both the volume of applications for the AARP Purpose Prize and by the high standard of applicants, AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins told Next Avenue. \u201cThis year\u2019s AARP Purpose Prize winners and fellows are true heroes in their communities and beyond \u2014 and we\u2019re proud to honor them.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something about entering the fifth decade, or later, that spurs a desire in many people like Buontempo to soul-search about what truly provides meaning in their lives and how they can help solve thorny social problems that disturb them. It strikes the chord of big cosmic questions such as \u201cIs this all there is?\u201d and \u201cWhat will I be remembered for?\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what led the nonprofit Encore.org<\/a> to create the Purpose Prize originally. Three years ago, the group passed the baton to AARP.<\/p>\n

Meet the Other Purpose Prize Winners<\/h3>\n

The other four 2019-2020 AARP Purpose Prize winners:<\/p>\n