The Ezekiel Project awarded Deacon Librado “Larry” Gayton the 2026 Rev. Stephen Douglas Leffler Community Service Award at the 29th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin King Jr. Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 28. Deacon Willie Haynes, president of the Ezekiel Project board, presented the award.

This award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to justice, equity and the betterment of our community—values exemplified by both the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Stephen Douglas Leffler.

“This recognition is on behalf of all our ministry made visible in our community,” Deacon Larry said. “This is what the Church teaches; this is the example Jesus left us. The work we do for our community is made possible by all those who have gone before us. All those who have persevered in faith and made countless sacrifices make the work we do possible today.”

The Ezekiel Project is an interfaith, interracial community organizing collective that works for social justice and systemic change within Saginaw and the Great Lakes Bay Region. Ezekiel Project, as part of a larger social justice movement, differs from a direct service organization by seeking to solve the underlying issues of poverty, inequity and injustice.

As the Director of Multicultural Ministry as well as a permanent deacon at St. Joseph Parish in Saginaw, Deacon Larry has been partnering with the Faith Table and leadership of The Ezekiel Project. This group includes area faith leaders from various Christian traditions and addresses ways of serving directly in the community. Deacon Larry, who spent four decades as an attorney, has particularly worked with issues of racial justice, gun violence, outreach to migrants and farmworkers and welcoming the stranger among us.

Deacon Larry has served in the Office of Multicultural Ministry at the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw since July 2020. The Office of Multicultural Ministry at the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw assists the bishop and the diocese in several areas, including migrant ministry, Hispanic ministry, immigration ministry, Black Catholic ministry and Native American ministry.