ATLANTA, Georgia — In honor of the Rev. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. and his upcoming retirement from Morehouse College, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated 33,705 pounds of shelf-stable food to Second Helpings Atlanta on April 14.
The Rev. Carter joined volunteers from the Church and Morehouse College the next day as they distributed the food to 34 nonprofit organizations that work with Second Helpings Atlanta to help individuals and families facing food insecurity across metro Atlanta.
“Being here is quite the powerful example of the many forms that missionary work can take and that you don’t have to really go abroad; it can happen right at home,” said the Rev. Carter, who will retire June 30 after a 47-year tenure as founding dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College, a historically Black college for men.
The Rev. Carter — affectionately known as “Dean Carter” in the Morehouse community — has been at the forefront of the friendship between Morehouse College and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In April 2023 the Rev. Carter presented the inaugural Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize to Church President Russell M. Nelson. The Rev. Carter later brought the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and the Morehouse College and Spelman College glee clubs together for performances in Salt Lake City and in Atlanta. In February he unveiled a portrait of Joseph Smith to hang in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel’s Hall of Honor.
“I think that the [Latter-day Saints] are maybe the most powerful exemplar of missionary work — helping the poor, the suffering, ‘the least of these,’” the Rev. Carter said during the food distribution, quoting Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:40 about caring for those in need.
“The Church is actually doing the ministry of Christ, and they are demonstrating how seriously they take Jesus’ moral imperative in responding firmly to the call for reconciliation and by feeding and clothing humanity,” he said.
Naivion Stephens, a Morehouse College student studying philosophy and religion, helped distribute boxes of food at Second Helpings Atlanta. He said his experience volunteering taught him that “service is an action.”
“I’ve had a wonderful experience with Second Helpings and with the Church, as I always do with all of my interactions with members of the Church,” Stephens said. “Being here today, in honor of Dean, I think just continues to drive home his entire principle of loving your neighbor and giving to these people and these groups and these organizations that are serving ‘the least,’ the lost, the last, the unlucky and the left out — the same people that Jesus came to that were on the margins of society.”
Paul Clements, executive director of Second Helpings Atlanta, explained his organization’s purpose and how the Church’s food donation in honor of the Rev. Carter will make a difference. Second Helpings is a food rescue organization that receives surplus food from businesses like grocery stores and restaurants, he said.
“Our job is to find good food that is still safe and edible, pick it up and then distribute it to a network of nonprofit organizations who are on the front lines. We also specialize in distributions like this,” said Clements, referring to the Church’s donation of shelf-stable food.
Clements said Second Helpings Atlanta typically receives a lot of perishable items — food that must be consumed within 24-48 hours of distribution — so the boxes of spaghetti, salsa, corn, peanut butter and other “staple ingredients” from the Church are greatly appreciated.
“Items like what we’re distributing here today are just incredibly rare and hard to come by, especially free. So this is really great for people in our community. … This is going to go a very long way for a lot of people,” he said.
