Mormon Church Gets Aid into Pakistan

The Mormon Church has no members in Pakistan, and no meeting houses, temples or welfare centers.  Thus, there is no church infrastructure on the ground in Pakistan to help distribute aid or to inform the Church as to where aid is needed. 

Therefore, the LDS Church has partnered with International Relief and Development, International Medical Corps and Saba Aslam Welfare and Trust to locally purchase and distribute immediate relief supplies.

Additional supplies from the Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake City will be shipped in the coming weeks, in partnership with Islamic Relief USA. 

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Pakistan,” said Presiding Bishop H. David Burton, who oversees humanitarian efforts. “The generous donations of church members and others is allowing the church to provide aid that will relieve the suffering of many people.”

“Heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan triggered the worst flooding in 80 years, beginning in late July. More than a third of the country has been impacted, and more than 1,500 people have died; 17 million others have been directly affected.” [1]

One hundred percent of the donations given to the church’s humanitarian services are used for relief efforts. The LDS Church absorbs its own overhead costs.  The help the Church is able to give around the world regardless of their culture or religion is due to the generousity of its members.

BYU Students Harness Sun Power for Peruvians

The Peruvians who live on the floating reed islands of Lake Titicaca want for basic amenities.  19 BYU engineering students recently returned from Peru, where they set up sustainable projects to meet basic human needs.  BYU Global Engineering Outreach class/club has visited the Uros people on the floating islands before. A windmill power generator was installed by a previous class.

However, the villagers weren’t using it, gravely concerned about the lightning risks of having a tall metal pole in the middle of a lake on an island made of reeds.  The windmill, therefore was left in the hands of the local government, while another project was planned.  The locals can study it and hopefully install it on the shore and in some of the mountain villages.

Next year’s students will work on a solar-heated water tank and possibly a bio-filter toilet — the simple wishes of one of the mothers on the island.

Currently, the Uros make small reed fires or spend nearly a third of their small incomes on fuel for propane stoves.  The engineering students designed sun cooker prototypes and spoke with members from the village to identify locally available resources.  The sun cooker can boil 12 eggs in 30 minutes.

Mormon Helping Hands in Slovenia

Members in all three branches in Ljubljana joined with a national effort to clean up Slovenia. Wearing their yellow Helping Hands vests, members from Ljubljana joined with members in the Maribor and Celje branches to help to clean up Slovenia in a day of service on April 17, 2010. [1]

The Church offered widespread support, including the full-time missionaries and President David H. Hill of the mission.  The service included rubbish clean-up projects in several areas, including Hill Roznik, behind the city park Tivoli and the Heracles temple in the park.  In the entire country, 250,000 people participated in the clean-up project, and the government sponsored festivities for the participants.

LDS Church Responds to Earthquake in Chile

Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are determining how the Church can be of most assistance in the wake of one of the most powerful earthquakes of the last century. With over half a million Latter-day Saints living in Chile, the Church has a substantial presence.  There are well over 100 Mormon missionaries in the country.  They were well prepared for the quake through the guidance of the Holy Spirit given to their mission president, who was warned ahead of time by the Lord that the disaster was coming.  All safe and accounted for, they were able to render assistance to their neighbors almost immediately.

“We, along with the rest of the world, are watching with concern as reports from the massive earthquake in Chile continue to unfold.  As with any disaster, immediate details are difficult to confirm.

“We have confirmed that all of the Church’s missionaries in Chile have reported in and are safe, including the two elders on the Juan Fernandez Island.” (This is an update from a report earlier today when some missionaries had not reported in).

Latter-day Saints are counseled by their leaders to store food, water, clothing and fuel against unpredicted emergencies, and this helps them weather such disasters and again be ready to help their neighbors.  Local leaders and members began relief efforts shortly after the quake distributing food and water already located in Concepción. Early reports indicate that one Church member has died.  [Later reports confirmed 7 church members dead and one missing.]

Church leaders have identified that food, water, tents, blankets, hygiene kits and sleeping mats are needed to assist people in the affected region. Representatives of the Church in Chile have been in contact with the country’s Interior Ministry to determine how the Church can most appropriately assist in relief efforts. Emergency response personnel at Church headquarters are poised to provide assistance as appropriate.  Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chile delivered six tons of food from local bishops’ storehouses to the city of Talca on 2 March to help meet needs in several cities north of Concepción.  A second shipment of 20 tons of food is expected to reach Concepción on 3 March. Two additional shipments of food have been sent to affected areas to the south of Concepción.

Most Latter-day Saint meetinghouses in Chile fared well in the quake, though many are filled with dust. At least three meetinghouses suffered extensive structural damage, and another was severely flooded. A house that also served as a meetinghouse was swept away in the tsunami triggered by the earthquake.  Those wishing to donate to the Church Humanitarian Aid Fund can do so here. Resources from the Church Humanitarian Aid Fund make it possible for the Church to conduct humanitarian activities all over the world. One hundred percent of all contributions are used to help the needy.

Update: March 3, 2010

Food supplies are being pulled from Bishop’s storehouses in locations in Chile for delivery to earthquake-stricken areas.  Six tons of food were delivered Tuesday to the city of Talca to help meet needs in several cities north of Concepcion. A second shipment of 20 tons of food was to reach Concepcion later Tuesday.  Also, two additional shipments of food have been sent to affected areas south of Concepcion.

Update: March 17, 2010

An airlift of tents, tarps, diapers and other supplies sent by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Chilean government arrived in Santiago from Miami on Monday, 15 March. The supplies had been specifically requested by the previous Chilean government and will provide relief in the wake of the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile in February.  The Church’s Chile area presidency, which directs the work of the Church throughout Chile, met with Rodrigo Hinzpeter, Chile’s new interior minister, and Cristobal Lira, the general coordinator of donations, to formally donate the shipment. The ministers expressed their gratitude for all the Church was doing to help the Chilean people.

Local Church leaders are also continuing to coordinate the delivery of food, water and other supplies provided locally from bishops’ storehouses in Chile to affected areas, including the Juan Fernandez Islands, which were hit by a major tsunami. Several tons of relief supplies have already been provided by the Church from resources in country.  Still, nearly 450 Church members are temporarily using 25 Church meetinghouses as living quarters.

Update: April 19, 2010

Click here to read a piece about the Mormon missionaries in Chile, the protection they were blessed with, and the service they were able to provide.

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.

Mormons Help Locally – All Over the World

Latter-day Saints believe that giving service to others is a lifestyle based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, who “went about doing good.”  The desire to serve others crosses cultural boundaries and has been manifested in recent months with stories featured on International Church Web sites.  From Brazil and El Salvador to Samoa and Guatemala, members of the Church are reaching out around the world to help those in need.  Below are some examples.

The Mormon Helping Hands program has reached its 10-year anniversary in Brazil.  Mormon Helping Hands has served the needs of thousands while providing many more thousands the opportunity to serve. On 12 October, National Volunteer Day in Brazil, tens of thousands of Mormon Helping Hands volunteers completed service projects throughout the South American country.

“The need to supply blood banks is compelling, as there is a deficit of more than 30,000 units of blood each year,” said Ana Vilma Aguilar, national coordinator. “Aid from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is invaluable and it enables us to significantly reduce the gap in our inventory.”

In Samoa volunteers helped restore both a grandmother’s home and her hope at a time of significant human loss following the recent deadly tsunami in the South Pacific.

By Uniting against Hunger, Mormons in Guatemala have responded to drought conditions that have destroyed crops.

“I brought two pounds of rice for my little friends who are without food,” said an eight-year-old girl who worked side by side with her father for two hours preparing rations.

The Church joined hands with numerous charitable and municipal organizations in collecting more than 300 tons of food.

Following September’s tropical storm, members in the Philippines continue an ongoing effort to provide food, water, clothes and other relief supplies.

In the Dominican Republic, members say they were following the admonition of their Savior when they donated 500 much-needed wheelchairs.

And on a smaller scale, women in England donated a portable machine that helps hospice patients breathe easier by clearing airways.

From LDS Newsroom.

Aid for Samoa Continues to Pour In

150,000 pounds of relief goods have been shipped from Salt Lake City to Samoa to help with relief efforts there, after a tsunami devastated parts of the island on September 29, 2009.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will continue to provide help, now even looking at homes that will need to be rebuilt.

Because of the structure of the Church and its lay clergy, members automatically know how to organize to help in an emergency.  All worthy males hold the priesthood, organized into quorums, and men and women are assigned to watch over assigned families on an ongoing basis.  When a general emergency occurs, members are able to assess the needs of the community quickly and get information passed up the line to priesthood leaders and then to the central leadership of the Church.  The humanitarian aid and welfare organizations of the Church rely on contributions of time and funds from church members.  These efforts are also ongoing, so that there is a constantly maintained supply of emergency goods ready to be shipped to disaster areas at a moment’s notice.

Within two hours aid was already arriving locally as coordinated by local Samoan priesthood leaders.  A Church-chartered DC-10 aircraft filled with relief supplies took off from the Salt Lake City International Airport Oct. 6 and arrived in Western Samoa that same day.  The bulk of the air shipment consisted of essential provisions needed by victims who were, in some instances, left with nothing besides the clothes on their backs: food, hygiene items, clothing, bedding, mosquito nets, wheelchairs and crutches.  The Church partnered with Islamic Relief to cover the cost of chartering the cargo plane.  Islamic Relief has developed a relationship of trust and friendship with the Church while working together in the aftermath of catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina.

When the air shipment arrived in Apia, Samoa, a team of workers that included full-time missionaries unloaded the massive payload, placed the various items on trucks and moved them to the Church’s warehouse in Samoa (formerly Western Samoa). Items in the first wave of the relief shipment were then transported to affected regions to be distributed by the local priesthood leaders to members and others in need. The remainder of the supplies were warehoused and will continue to be distributed to those in need under the direction of priesthood leaders.

Canned, boxed and bagged food items from the shipment included corn, peaches, rice, pears, beef stew and dried milk (LDS Church News, October 17, 2009).

Samoans living in less impacted regions appear to be returning to their normal, daily routines, he added. The missionaries continue to be utilized in more troubled areas.

LDS Aid in Tsunami-Stricken Samoa

In October, 2009, an 8.3 earthquake occurred in the sea southwest of Samoa and American Samoa.  Since there are a large number of Latter-day Saints on the islands, local Saints and church leaders first tried to locate every member.  Emergency response was then coordinated between the Church and local congregations.  About 150 people died in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, 26 of whom were Latter-day Saints.  All Mormon missionaries on the islands were accounted for and found to be safe.

Latter-day Saint authorities in Samoa and New Zealand have continued to devote substantial energies to organizing humanitarian relief locally for the battered islands of Samoa and American Samoa.

Latter-day Saints throughout unaffected areas in Samoa have been gathering supplies and are continually shipping these to the impacted communities. Aid is to be given to all people in need, regardless of their religious affiliation (MormonTimes.com).

In American Samoa, at the request of the government, church meeting houses have been opened to residents who lost their homes in the disaster.

In Tonga, the tsunami crushed the small northern island of Niuatoputapu, destroying most of the homes in its three villages and leaving roughly 90 percent of its 1,019 people without shelter and clothing. Survivors reported that the waves reached the boughs of the coconut trees and obliterated the island’s hospital, bank, government offices, telecommunication facilities, jail and airport buildings. Nine people died and four were critically injured.

No Latter-day Saints were killed in Tonga, although some lost their homes and all their possessions.

Church members on Tonga’s main island of Tongatapu provided relief for the people of Niuatoputapu. On Thursday, Tongatapu’s 12 stake presidents broadcast a message on local Tonga radio inviting church members to donate food, clothing, cooking equipment, pillows, blankets and other necessities.

Church members were invited to drop their donations at their local churches, where full-time missionaries helped load them into trucks. At first light Friday, dozens of trucks began transporting the goods to government warehouses. From there, military trucks transported them to the nearby wharf, where they were loaded into a French ship, which will carry them to Niuatoputapu.

Government leaders on all three islands were impressed with the speed and coordinated efforts of the LDS Church and its members and expressed gratitude for the help.  Rebuilding efforts will also receive the continuing attention of the LDS Church.  The Church is still continuing rebuilding efforts in the tsunami-stricken regions of Indonesia and Thailand, even though the disaster occurred several years ago.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-update-on-pacific-earthquake-and-tsunami-crisis

Click here to read a personal account of the devastation in Samoa.  This article has many before and after photographs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAaBJrn9su8

LDS Response to Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan

August 21, 2009 — LDS Newsroom Blog

The deadliest storm to hit Taiwan in 50 years, typhoon Morakot surged through earlier this month, killing 141 people and leaving hundreds more missing. Roads to dozens of villages also remained blocked, and thousands of people were living in disaster relief shelters.

In addition to helping church members with immediate needs, the Church is working with government and other agencies to provide relief.  Food, water, hygiene supplies, generators, pumps and other relief supplies have been purchased or rented to assist families and individuals in the community. Donations from Church members of rice, water and other daily necessities have been collected and distributed.

Church buildings are being used as staging areas for cleanup projects.  More than 1,000 Church members from across Taiwan have joined with missionaries to assist in cleanup efforts in affected areas.  Nearly 50,000 Church members in 100 congregations live in Taiwan. There is also a Church temple there.

Local Mormons Provide Food Relief in Florida

On June 25, 2009, Florida Today.com, in an article by John A. Torres, reported the following:

Starting today, hungry families struggling to provide can go to the nearest Catholic Church for a week’s supply of food.

More than 12,000 pounds of food collected and donated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was picked up Wednesday by volunteers with Catholic Charities of Central Florida.  The partnership is expected to ease the economic crunch for struggling families for the next three weeks.  The food is available for anyone, regardless of faith.

It’s the first time an LDS Stake has connected with the local Catholic Church to work on this type of project.  There are a large number of Catholic Churches in Brevard County that can serve as distribution centers.  The project follows a successful fund-raising campaign called Project Hunger, aimed at providing food for the poor during the summer months.  Donations are typically lower during the summer than during the winter holiday season, so it’s difficult to keep food banks stocked.  This recent donation will help provide needed food until the Project Hunger funds are allocated.  Funding for the effort was provided by donations from Latter-day Saints (Mormons) throughout Central Florida.

To read the full article, click here.

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