The Sound of Giving

by Linda McMillian

Alpharetta-Milton, Ga. — A young missionary, Rob Gardner, serving in France in 1996, felt that he could teach the gospel of Jesus Christ through music when words were not enough. He was inspired to compose “The Lamb of God", an oratorio of the last week of Christ's life on Earth.

The music was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and, most recently, performed by a collection of over 100 local musical artists from Georgia at the Roswell Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The performances, for a capacity crowd, were the culmination of months of rehearsal and preparation and were an inspiration to both the musicians and audience. The presentation was free and the general public was invited.

In addition to the performance, canned food was collected at the Church for children and families in need in our local area. The effort resulted in 400 cans of food donated to North Fulton Charities in Roswell.

Volunteer workers at the charity facility explained to Church members that donations become scarce this time of year even though the need remains constant. Hunger doesn't keep a calendar. Needs at the North Fulton Charities Food Pantry change regularly and are updated at: https://nfcchelp.org/food-bank/.

The Pantry also supplies essentials such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, a simple but necessary commodity that most of us take for granted.

While Fulton County is home to some of the most affluent communities in Georgia, it also encompasses lower-income employees working in the retail and service industry. This can result in food insecurity and families in need struggling to get by.

In 2016 Barbara Duffy, executive director of North Fulton Community Charities, explained in an interview, “As far as these families’ ability to stay afloat, any little thing can upset the apple cart,” Duffy said. “What some of us would think of as very minor concerns—repairing a car, mom gets sick and can’t work for a couple of days—there’s income that would normally go to rent and bills. If we can get in and prop that family up during their time of need, they will continue to be contributing members of our community.”

Roswell GA Stake President Reed Macdonald remarked, “We are grateful to have this occasion to assist in providing food for those in need in our community. As Christians, we follow the admonition of Christ to care for our less fortunate neighbors.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is active in humanitarian efforts throughout the world as well as locally.

Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said that each year The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spends about $40 million on welfare, humanitarian and other Church-sponsored projects around the world and has done so for more than 30 years.

In 2018 the Church worked in 141 countries and territories on 2,885 projects with over 1,900 partners to help those in need throughout the world regardless of nationality, ethnicity or religion. Including food relief, emergency disaster services, immunizations, medical care, clean water projects assisting over 6.4 million people and food production allowing communities to become self-sufficient.