Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear honored The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with a faith-based service award for humanitarian work in the wake of devastating flooding in eastern Kentucky in July 2022.
Elder Nathan A. Craig of the Tenth Quorum of the Seventy accepted the award on behalf of the Church during a ceremony on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at the Mellwood Art Center in Louisville. This was the first time since 2019 that the annual Governor’s Service Awards event (now in its 27th year) was held in person.
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| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
“I was honored to represent these incredible volunteers from 29 stakes throughout the region [including parts of West Virginia, Virgina, Ohio and Tennessee] who lived as the Savior taught by coming to the aid of their neighbor,” Elder Craig said.
Some 3,000 Latter-day Saints participated in the two-week volunteer effort. They brought relief to survivors with food, water, cleaning supplies and hygiene kits. They gave 65,872 hours of service to clean out 867 damaged homes.
“Printed on the Kentucky flag and around the official seal is a motto that reads, ‘United We Stand, Divided We Fall,’” Elder Craig said. “This award and all others received today represent thousands of volunteer hours from individuals who exemplify that motto. As people of faith, we would say that a little differently: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The result of that love is hearts knit together, compassion and understanding.”
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Elder Nathan A. Craig of the Seventy (right) speaks with Charles Booker, head of Kentucky’s Governor’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and Community Involvement, on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at the Mellwood Art Center in Louisville.2023 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.In addition to honoring the Church of Jesus Christ, Gov. Beshear handed out eight other group awards and 10 individual awards.
“These prestigious awards honor Kentucky individuals, national service members, groups, nonprofits and businesses for extraordinary service to their communities and the positive impact they are having on our commonwealth,” he said. “Congratulations to the class of 2022 Governor’s Service Awards recipients. Thank you for your selfless work and service to the people of Kentucky.”