Former President Jimmy Carter and singer Christina Aguilera will be among the first recipients of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards.The awards will be handed out Thursday evening at the Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville. Carter will be recognized with the Muhammad Ali Lifetime Achievement Award for his efforts in humanitarian rights. Others include singer Christina Aguilera, who’ll receive the Humanitarian of the Year Award for her efforts to end world hunger.Awards will also be given to singer Michael Bolton and WaterStep founder Mark Hogg. Hogg’s Louisville-based organization works to bring safe water to developing countries.Six young people will also receive awards, including a New Jersey boy who founded a nonprofit that conducts free sports clinics for special-needs children. Others include a 22-year-old Afghan woman for her efforts in promoting women’s sports and 15-year-old Rhode Island boy who collected and donated footwear for children in homeless shelters.Ali Center spokesman Jeanie Kahnke says a purpose of the awards is to inspire others.“These are really special young people who I think will really inspire thousands and thousands of other young people to really look at themselves and figure out how they can help their community, Kahnke said.Muhammad Ali and his wife, Lonnie, are expected to attend the ceremony.Kahnke says Muhammad Ali and his wife, Lonnie, will attend the ceremony. The Ali Center is also hosting its Three Days of Greatness film festival from Wednesday through Friday, which will include the documentary “The Trials of Muhammad Ali.” The Ali Center will also host the U.S. premiere of the HBO film Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight, but that's by invitation only. Also shown will be the documentary The Trials of Muhammad Ali.Here's alist of events from the Ali Center.
