LEOMINSTER – On Thursday, Jan. 9, while speakers at the National Cathedral in Washington DC eulogized Jimmy Carter, Habitat for Humanity chapters around the nation erected “memorial doors” to recognize his many years of volunteer work on behalf of the organization.

Among the chapters celebrating the contributions of the late president was Habitat for Humanity North Central Massachusetts, which has built and renovated several homes in the Athol-Orange area in recent years.

Some four dozen people – including Habitat administrators, the mayors of Leominster and Fitchburg, area residents, volunteers, and students from Leominster High School – gathered in the auditorium at Leominster City Hall to recall Carter’s contribution to affordable housing. Everyone in attendance was encouraged to use a black Sharpie to add their name to the memorial door, which is to be installed in a new home the organization is building in Leominster.

“I’m happy you’re all here,” said Carolyn Read, executive director of the local habitat chapter, “to celebrate his life and all of his incredible works. When Mr. Carter died, Habitat for Humanity lost a precious friend and a true champion of people and communities everywhere. His work extends well beyond housing, but for us at Habitat, we know that the world came to learn about Habitat for Humanity largely because President and Mrs. Carter faithfully worked alongside volunteers in the heat and the cold, and with citizens all around the globe, to build housing for those who needed a safe, affordable place to live.”

Read said she was lucky to have met the Carters at a Habitat for Humanities International event in Atlanta.

“He was kind, compassionate, and also very passionate about the many ways that we can all better serve our neighbors,” Read said. “With his assistance, Habitat for Humanity has helped more than 6.2 million people around the world.”

Curt Logee, president of the board of directors of Habitat for Humanity North Central Massachusetts, recalled that, in 1976, he and his friends began hearing talk of a “different kind of politician; this guy from the South. He had big white teeth, he had a bigger, wider smile, and he was a peanut farmer of all things. He talked truthfully, and he talked about how we could work together, and how the government can work for all people instead of just for the elite. Above all, he liked the same music we liked – the Allman Brothers, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson.”

After enumerating the many positives of Carter’s presidential term, Logee said, “His work with Habitat for Humanity was really something. I had to check this twice, but he was personally responsible for 4,447 homes either built or renovated; 4,400 homes in the last 40 years he personally worked on. He worked with over 100,000 volunteers across the world. And he has helped countless families into safe and secure homes.

“He truly worked all of his life in the service of others,” Logee said. In closing, he quoted from the first book of Peter, Chapter 4: “Each of us should use whatever gifts we have received to serve others as faithful servants of God’s grace.’ That is how he lived his life and that’s his legacy to this day.”

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.