Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes mistakenly called the “Mormon Church,” are well-known for their volunteerism, giving both service and funds in their church and their communities.  In early 2012 the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released findings associated with a comprehensive study of Mormons.  The focus was Mormon volunteerism, which was found to be far and beyond what most Americans, even very religious Americans give in terms of time and money.

An event was scheduled along with the release of the results of the study, called Mormons and Civic Life (read the transcript here), in which the results were discussed by those who mounted the study, scholars, members of the press, and others.

The findings of the study showed that while about 30% to 50% of Americans volunteer, they do it for about three to four hours a month.  Studies by the Corporation for National and Community Service show that Utah has the highest rate of volunteering.   Utah is the American state with the most Mormons.  The Pew study (using a 14 page, very detailed questionnaire) showed that Mormons do much more on a monthly basis.

For religious activities, people give on average 242 hours. For church-affiliated volunteering to help meet social needs of people in the church, 96 hours. For church-affiliated activities helping people outside the church, 56 hours. And for activities outside of the church totally, 34 hours.

If we take the value of the hours volunteering for an average member of the Latter-day Saints, it’s about $9,140 annually. This is a major, major contribution.

When analyzing the giving habits of Mormons the Pew study divided “giving” into three types — secular giving (outside the Church), giving as tithing (10% of one’s increase), and giving to the Church over and beyond tithing.

For secular giving, meaning giving money to worthy causes outside of the church, an average person in the church gives $1,171. Giving to welfare through the church — $650. And on top of tithing — $203 per person for religious activities.

The first thing that I said about tithing — 88.8% of members of the church that we interviewed reported that they provide full tithing. Remember, we went to the church; people that we interviewed were active members of the church. They went to a Sunday service, and this is where we found them. Another about 6% said that they do partial tithing. The total social donation — I’m excluding now the religious donation outside — if we only take what they gave for social causes within the church and outside the church, we have $1,821.

To conclude, we found a group of people that are most generous in our society. Through their theology of obedience and sacrifice and strong commitment to tithing and service, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints are the most pro-social members in American society. We couldn’t believe the findings. But that’s what we have.

Discussed at the event was the remarkable fact that Mormons show up after every major disaster, ready to provide relief; that Mormons believe in preparedness and self-reliance; that there is a social structure within each congregation that binds members together and encourages them to provide more service.  Most Mormons interviewed said that taking care of the poor and needy is a very important aspect of their faith.

Additional Resources:

More on the Pew Study on Mormon Volunteerism

Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons

Mormons Believe

Our Search for Happiness

An organization called  Family Humanitarian Experience (Fhe) is serving hundreds of remote Q’eqchi’ villagers in the remote Polochic Valley of Guatemala and doing it right alongside their spouses and children.

FHe is a new 501(c)3 non-profit organization geared for LDS families who want to serve together and have spiritually uplifting experiences along the way. At the core of an FHe expedition are the training workshops which provide skills and knowledge to villages in the areas of medical and dental, economic development, and teacher training. There are also building projects and numerous cultural experiences that take place. [1]

Last summer seven FHe leaders joined with Singular Humanitarian and CHOICE Humanitarian to lay the groundwork for FHe’s expedition this July to Guatemala. CHOICE Humanitarian is a distinguished non-profit organization based in Salt Lake City with over 30 years of experience in sustainable village development. SHe is a sister organization to FHe for LDS single professionals that develops and provides curriculum and hands-on training to villages around the world in much the same way as FHe, focusing on the areas of business, healthcare, and education.

In July 2011 FHe and SHe worked together to train local volunteers to provide aid in Guatemalan villages.  Aid includes the building of a hospital, enabling teachers to provide education, and health workers to provide care and instruction on sanitation and hygiene.

Families who serve with FHe will go home with deeper gratitude, a deeper love of mankind and for each other, and with the desire to not take anything for granted, especially relationships. This is the gift the Q’eqchi’ people give to us, the ability to love and live more deeply.”

FHe recently launched their website, www.familyhumanitarian.org, and will be closing registration soon for their expedition to Guatemala in early July 2012.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, the “Mormon Church“) is working together with other organizations, to assist in drought relief efforts in Africa. Millions are in need of assistance as the past several years have been harsh drought conditions. The Church partnering to provide water, hygiene kits, medical supplies, as well as medical training. the Church is also working on projects in the future that would help the people of Africa be more self-reliant. These projects include digging wells, installing pumps, and sanitizing water. This example of assistance given by the Church and other organizations, shows that there is a great need for additional Christ like assistance around the world.

 With an estimated 13 million people in Eastern Africa in need of assistance, the conditions there being the driest recorded in the past 50 years, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is working with various other organizations to coordinate the distribution of aid in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda.

In Dadaab, Kenya, the world’s largest complex of refugee camps is already full, with an estimated half million people living there. Tens of thousands of people are living outside of the complex due to lack of space and supplies. In September, an average of 1,000 people arrived each day.

For a full report, please visit the official Mormon news website for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church), contributed to disaster relief in 58 countries during 2010.  The Welfare Services Emergency Response Report shows that the LDS Church responded to 119 disasters and provided millions of dollars in emergency aid.

Disasters worldwide claimed the lives of nearly 300,000 people in 2010, making it the deadliest year in the last 25.  There were about 350 natural disasters.  Two hundred million people were affected, and disasters caused about $100 billion worth of damage. 

Earthquakes took center stage with temblors in Haiti and Chile, and New Zealand.  The Mormon Church continues to send relief to Haiti.  The most widespread type of disaster globally was flooding.  Pakistan, China, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and the Philippines, as well as Central America and northern South America, suffered from devastating floods, as has the United States.  There were two major cholera outbreaks, one in Haiti and one in Papua New Guinea. 

The humanitarian aid efforts of the Mormon Church are made possible through the generous donations of members and friends of the Church. One hundred percent of all contributions are used to help those in need.

Travis Hansen, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, former Brigham Young University basketball star, former LDS missionary to Chile, played pro basketball for Real Madrid in Spain, and  Dynamo Moscow and BC Khimki in Russia.  While playing for Real Madrid last year, Hansen suffered a herniated disc in his back and returned to Utah for surgery and recovery.  During this healing period, he and his wife LaRee finished a long adoption process and received their baby girl from Indiana. They were already familiar with the hurdles that line the road to adoption.
While in Russia in 2007, he and his wife felt inspired to establish the Little Heroes Foundation.   LaRee had researched the adoption process in Russia, and she discovered the plight of many orphans there.  They decided to do something to help children around the world, one by one.  Hansen helped one Russian infant gain access to a liver transplant, while he and his wife were establishing Little Heroes.   Now in its fourth year, Little Heroes, sponsored by Nature Sunshine, has offered humanitarian aid to children in Russia, Mali (Africa), Connecticut, Colorado and Utah.

The organization has remodeled part of a hospital in Russia.  They have helped children get life-saving surgeries.  They’ve organized volunteers to hold and play with babies.  They have built two schools and pay extra teachers to be there.  They provide books and materials for the schools.  They work with a foster care program for the older children.  Knowing they can’t provide for every needy child in the world, at least they can change the lives of a few.

Read more.

Becky Douglas has turned a tragic event into a charitable project helping many in India.  Becky’s oldest daughter, Amber, took her own life in college, ending a struggle with bi-polar disorder.  When Becky was sorting through Amber’s possessions, she discovered that Amber had sponsored an orphan in India.  She requested donations for the orphanage in lieu of flowers for Amber’s funeral.  So much money was collected that Douglas was asked to serve on the orphanage’s board of directors.  She decided she had better make a trip to India.

During the trip, Becky discovered that the orphanage was well-run and that the children were well cared for.  However, her heart bled when she saw lepers begging in the streets.  She discovered that people with leprosy are outcasts, and that their children also become untouchable, living in the leprosy colonies with their parents.  She decided to do something.  She called four close friends, and together they created Rising Star Outreach, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving leprosy victims in India and their children.

Leprosy is curable and easily treated.  India provides care for lepers.  But many are too ashamed to seek help.  They become outcasts and beggars.  Becky decided on a three-pronged approach — 1- to provide mobile medical care for people living in the colonies; 2- to create a safe learning environment for the children of lepers; and 3- to offer micro-loans to lepers to wean them from begging into gainful work.  The work is moving forward, thanks to volunteers from all over the world.

Because of Rising Star, lepers have access to clean bandages and medications.  The mobile units also check for other diseases and conditions and seek to discover leprosy when it’s just begun, thus possibly preventing physical signs of the disease. 

Rising Star gives colony kids a separate place to live and go to school, protecting them from the disease through separation and clean environs.  At school they learn English and computer skills.  There are nearly 200 children in Rising Star’s primary and secondary schools.  Rising Star has partnered with people in India to help with the micro-loan program.  Rising Star has been invited to open facilities in nearly every state in India.  To date, the organization has helped around 20,000 people.

Rising Star can be contacted at risingstaroutreach.org.

To read the full article in LDS Living on Rising Star Outreach, click here.

LDS Living Magazine editor Jamie Lawson visited India and has written about the experience in three parts, including a video.  You can see the articles at the following links:

The Untouchables, Part 1

The Untouchables, Part 2

The Untouchables, Part 3

The Untouchables Video

The two facts most people know about Mongolia are that the weather is brutal and the people are nomadic.  The temperatures on the plains dip below zero every winter, and then there’s the wind chill.  The last thing people think of when they think about Mongolia is gardening.  But for the past two years, Deseret International Charities has partnered with all of the Mormon wards (congregations) and branches (even smaller congregations) in Mongolia to provide seeds, tools, gardening manuals and training to members of the Church in their local units. More than 400 LDS families throughout Mongolia are participating in the garden project. [1]

One member expressed gratitude for the seed potatoes, tools and gardening manual she received from the Church/DIC’s Garden Project.  For many Mongolian gardeners, watering has been a challenges.  Some have shallow wells, but others haul water for their gardens.  Still, the abundance of produce has increased the health of the participants. 

“Sister Javzandulam’s garden is her only source of income. She said, “Planting is easy, but selling is hard.” She rents a truck to transport her produce to the big city of Ulaanbaatar so she can sell produce there. In order to store her remaining produce, she dug a large hole in the ground on her property. Last winter, she placed the produce and hold-over seeds in the hole and erected a ger (yurt) over it. This served as a root cellar and kept her produce and seeds from freezing. In addition to a garden of vegetables, Javzandulam planted beautiful flowers to adorn her home. Her dedication to her garden sets a great example for her friends of the benefits of home gardening.”

Some gardeners have erected greenhouses with plastic walls.  Others have built fences to keep out livestock.  Others have learned to collect and recycle rainwater.  Some have created gardens in grow-boxes, while others furrow the ground or create hills for vegetables.  Lush, large gardens have been a blessing for all the participants in the project.

Hundreds of volunteers from the six Mormon congregations in Winnipeg, Canada,  picked up canned food and non-perishable items from residents of a dozen Winnipeg neighbourhoods.  The food will go to Winnipeg Harvest to feed the hungry.

This July, 2010, food drive is the fifth one supported by the city’s Mormons. The goal is to add 13,500 kilograms to the food bank’s supplies.  The food bank distributes food to more than 5,000 families weekly.  Flyers were distributed to 60,000 households in preparation for the drive.  Residents left food on their doorsteps to be picked up by the volunteers.

Latter-day Saints are prepared to help without making an extra trip to the grocery store.  For many years they have been urged by church leaders to lay up a store of food, clothing and fuel.  The method is to gradually stock up on the food the family eats on a regular basis until there is a three-months supply, then rotate through the pantry, so the supply is refreshed.  Emergency water rations can be stored in cleansed plastic containers that used to carry other products, or in containers purchased specifically to store water.  After the three months’ supply is in place, then the Chuch instructs its members to store a year’s supply of items that have a very long shelf life, so they don’t have to be rotated.  These items include wheat, dry beans, rice, sugar, salt, and honey.

Latter-day Saints also prepare 72-hour kits for emergency evacuations.  For more on emergency preparedness and food storage, go to MormonPreparedness.com.

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.

When several Tennessee counties flooded in early May, 2010, “Mormon Angels” pitched in to help.

The first weekend in May, after two days of relentless rainfall, the Harpeth and Cumberland Rivers that meander throughout the city and suburbs of Nashville, overflowed their banks at record-breaking heights and caused extremely serious flooding.   The flood waters reached four counties in Tennessee, causing so much damage they were deemed federal disaster areas. Over 20,000 homes were destroyed or damaged with 21 deaths across the state.

Though 42 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lost their homes and 100 members’ homes or vehicles suffered damage, no lives were lost among the members of the Mormon Church, and no church buildings were damaged. 

“On Saturday afternoon the rain continued and rivers began creeping out of their banks. Members checked on one another and then organized into small groups working tirelessly throughout neighborhoods. They moved furniture and supplies to upstairs rooms. In one subdivision the residents began to call the members the ‘Mormon Angels’ because of their selfless service. One neighbor wrote the following to the members, ‘We can’t tell you how much we appreciate all the help from all of our angels yesterday. You lifted a load in more ways than one. Please convey our UTMOST appreciation,’ Cindy Tumblin. ” [1]

“On Sunday church meetings were cancelled and members continued helping others. Many housed those that were forced to evacuate. Over 15 inches of rain had fallen by Sunday evening. In some places the rivers had risen 20 feet and totally submerged homes and vehicles. Weather forecasters said a summer’s worth of rain fell in two days.”

The Church Disaster Relief in Atlanta sent 7 semi- truck loads of clean drinking water, food, cleaning kits, generators, diapers, fans and other items into the Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County Office of Emergency Management distribution point, to the Second Harvest Food Bank (who served as a distributor for Metro) and to the Town of Lavergne.

One semi-truck full of food and supplies was taken to the Grace Works Ministries and the Empty Hands Fellowship in Franklin, TN. Seven churches belong to this ministry and serve the people throughout Williamson County.  Two semi-trucks full of water (about 7,400 gallons) were sent to Mount Pleasant, TN, because their water purification system was underwater and not working properly. Members of the Nashville stake gathered supplies for over 1200 hygiene kits that were donated to the Red Cross for distribution.

Hundreds of church volunteers gathered in flood-stricken neighborhoods cleaning up muddy debris.  Every LDS ward had work crews out daily. Members worked tirelessly side by side with people of other faiths. “Our members have been welcomed every where they have gone, wonderful associations and friendships have been established. “

Sixty members in Thompson Station met at a local Baptist church that suffered severe water damage.  The church had six inches of water fill the sanctuary and class rooms. Mormon volunteers swept, cut drywall, and cleaned mud grime off of furniture.

LDS bishops and branch presidents have assigned priesthood leaders to lead volunteer service activities and have contacted city leaders to coordinate the service activities with neighborhood needs.   The mayor of Franklin, Tennessee was grateful and called the church daily for help. Several times persons needing help would call the mayor and ask for the Mormons.

One young man preparing for his mission went to the mayor’s office daily to find out what families needed help. Members of the church assisted in any way possible such as feeding relief workers, clearing trees, removing floors, siding, air conditioners, duct work, dry wall, garages, etc.

Mormon missionaries participated fully in the clean up, and seemed to work beyond their capacities.  Many were amazed at the missionaries hard work and diligence.  They pulled up damaged wood floors and tore out soaked HVAC ducts full of mud and awful smells.

Recovering from the flood may take years for Nashville and its surrounding areas but members of the Church will always be organized and ready to serve. “We feel extremely fortunate that our members had so little damage to their homes and properties when so many others lost everything,” said Franklin Stake President William Grayson. “We consider it a blessing to be able to coordinate supplies and food to those who were affected, and we are grateful for the volunteers from our stake who have worked tirelessly to reach out and help through daily service opportunities in their communities.”   [1]