Mormons Remember 1985 Fast for Ethiopians

2010 is the 25th anniversary of an especially successful and heartwarming humanitarian aid project funded by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Leaders of the LDS Church visited a feeding camp in Ethiopia which housed 120,000 refugees.  30,000 more were trying to be admitted.  The people were hollow-eyed and starving.  The Church had called upon its members to hold a special fast and to donate the money that would have been spent on meals to the starving people in Ethiopia.  Latter-day Saints fast on the first Sunday of each month, anyway, and then donate the money saved on skipped meals to the Church for the support of the poor.  That day is called “fast Sunday” by members of the Church.  This special fast brought in donations of $6 million US dollars from Latter-day Saints worldwide.

Elder M. Russell Ballard, then of the Presidency of the Seventy and now a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Elder Glenn L. Pace, then managing director of the Church’s Welfare Department and now of the First Quorum of the Seventy, were in Ethiopia to determine how best to use the money donated.

“While the Church has always responded to the suffering caused by various disasters, the Ethiopian famine triggered a more methodical and organized effort than had been experienced before,” Elder Pace said.  Church leaders held sacred the funds raised in the fast, as well as a second fast held in November 1985 that raised an additional $5 million. To expedite its Church’s humanitarian endeavors, the Church began to form relationships with humanitarian organizations to help those in need.

In the 25 years since that fast, the Church has sent $1.1 billion in assistance to 167 nations. That includes 61,308 tons of food, 12,829 tons of medical supplies, 84,681 tons of clothing and 8.6 million hygiene, newborn and school kits.

And each year the Church’s ability to assist others increases as other humanitarian organizations (many with which the Church now partners) have become acquainted with the Church, said Presiding Bishop H. David Burton. “They know our integrity. They know that when we commit, we follow through. I think we have earned a place among the very best of the non-governmental organizations around the world.”

Today, members may provide support for humanitarian work by donating online, donating through LDS Philanthropies, by giving items to the Deseret Industries or by serving at some of the hundreds of established Church welfare facilities located around the world.

The Church guarantees that every penny donated to the humanitarian fund is used for the care of the poor and the needy.