Peace Corps Commemorative
The Peace Corps program was established by Executive Order 10924, which was issued by President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961. The program was legislatively authorized by Congress on September 21, 1961, with passage of the Peace Corps Act (Pub.L. 87–293). Between 1961 and 2013, over 215,000 Americans joined the Peace Corps. The National Peace Corps Association, a nonprofit organization for Peace Corps alumni, established the Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation to advocate for a commemorative to honor the mission of the Peace Corps and the values on which it was founded.
VIA (Volunteers in Asia)
VIA was established during the 1960s, an era of radical social change and questioning in the United States, especially among college students and other youth. In a century that had already seen two massive wars involving numerous countries, and following a decade of relative peace and prosperity fraught with fear over the rise of Communism, Americans in the 1960s increasingly looked to better acquaint themselves with the international community. It was in this era that the Peace Corps, the US government's program sending Americans overseas to volunteer, was established with great success. It was also during this period that the US Congress established the East-West Center in Hawaii, an institution designed to bridge learning between Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders. Although much smaller in comparison, VIA has also provided a range of educational and exchange opportunities designed to link Asians and Americans, but it has done so without any governmental or religious linkage.