All Africa Service Project Mobilizes African Mormons

Europeans and Americans are used to seeing newspaper photographs of humanitarian aid workers in Africa.  The workers are invariably white, and from developed, “first world” countries, trying to lend a hand to poorer Africans.  The photographs are different, however in an article on Vanguardngr.com, a Nigerian paper reporting a major cleanup effort in Lagos, Nigeria.

Nigerian members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mobilized in Lagos to clean up Ikeja General Hospital, especially clearing drains that were breeding grounds for mosquitos.  Church members were clad in the recognizable yellow aprons bearing the logo “Mormon Helping Hands.”  The aprons are the same that were apparent at the hurrican Katrina service sites in the U.S.

Male members of the Church sand filled some failed sections of the hospital road while the females swept the hospital premises and also cleared the garbage at the back of Ayinke ward.  Mormon children also participated.  The exercise also took place in places like Ifako Health Centre, General Hospital, Ogba, Ikoyi Prison, Agege General Hospital, Ajuwon Community Health Center, Ikorodu General Hospital, Surulere Local Government Premises, Onilegogoro Bus-stop, among others.

The same sort of service was taking place all over Africa as part of the project sponsored by the Church.

“A Ghanaian, Richard K. Ahadjie, said of the exercise: ‘I came for a leadership training meeting yesterday and I was supposed to leave for Accra this morning. I know the project is for all Africans and if I decided to leave this morning, I shall miss this project back home in Accra. So I decided to stay in Nigeria for the three hours exercise.  This exercise has been able to portray Christ’s attitude on cleanliness.’”

“Chairman, National Public Affairs Council in Nigeria, Elder Alexander Odume told Vanguard Metro, ‘We feel great for doing such a thing. Mormons means good; we are here to render service because we believe in service for humanity. This is our own contribution to assist our fellow human beings who need the service more. We have been able to fill some parts of the road with laterite; we have trash bags and we are partnering with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA who will come and evacuate the rubbish as soon as we are through with what we are doing.  Unit leaders of the Church have identified projects that would address the needs of the areas the church is located where members would render service. In some of the projects, we are partnering with organisations, other churches and leaders of other faiths to serve Nigerians.’

There are over 88,000 members of the Church in Nigeria.  The aim of the service project is to “sweep the street, clear the drains, paint and mark roads, clean markets and other public places, including hospitals, health centres, police stations, old people’s home, motherless babies homes, among others,” said Elder Odume.

See the full article at Vanguard Metro Nigeria.

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.

Rik Jesse, Florida Today

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.

The Journey of a Peach

The journey of a single peach through the hands of thousands of Latter-day Saint volunteers to the mouths of a hurricane-torn family is proof that through small and simple acts of service the Church can collectively accomplish something large.

Working at the cannery

LDS Church News published a story called “Behind the Box,” describing the unselfish service of thousands of Latter-day Saints (Church News, Sept 27, 2008).  Local members cared for peach trees on the Church-owned farm in Ogden, Utah.  The peaches were delivered to a Church cannery in Lindon, Utah, where they were cleaned and processed by additional volunteers.

The cans emerged from the Lindon cannery with a Deseret label, not for commercial distribution, but for the welfare needs of the Church, and for humanitarian aid efforts.  The canned peaches were transported to “Welfare Square” in Salt Lake City, where additional Mormon volunteers packed them into “food boxes.”  The food boxes were then shipped by truck to Texas.

In Texas, the food boxes were unloaded and distributed to hurricane victims in the greater Houston area.

“The Church has 138 storehouses located around the Western Hemisphere; 108 of those storehouses are in the United States and Canada and 128 are operated entirely by volunteers. Food items for the storehouses are produced at canneries and other facilities across the United States.

“Each year, 14 Church canneries produce 12.6 million cans of food. In addition, Deseret Bakery produces 453,594 loaves of bread, Deseret Pasta produces 938,505 pounds of pasta and Deseret Soap produces 2.6 million pounds of soap. Deseret Dairy produces 9.8 million pounds of milk, 1.5 million pounds of powdered milk and 727,251 pounds of cheese.

“The Deseret label represents compassion, hard work and high quality,” said Brother Lifferth. “It is the only brand that money can’t buy,” he said, noting that the products are not sold but distributed to the poor and needy and victims of disasters.”

Ward Relief Society Humanitarian Aid Project

The Women’s organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) is called the Relief Society.  Charity work is central to the organization, which is over 5 million strong.  Women meet together every Sunday as part of the typical sabbath block of meetings to learn about the Savior and principles of the gospel.  Four times each year, a ward (like a parish) will have an evening meeting for an enriching activity, and often these meetings are oriented towards performing humanitarian aid projects.  The North Mapleton Utah 8th Ward often sponsors welfare projects, and one was held on June 10, 2009 at the North Mapleton Stake Center in the cultural hall.  An area was designated for the assembling of quilts to be sent to disaster areas.  Tables were moved together end to end to create an assembly line to put together hygiene kits for disaster relief.  Refreshments were served, and the ladies enjoyed the cameraderie associated with such an events.  Such meetings and projects are ongoing in the Church on ward, stake, and all-church levels.

Hygiene Kit

Orphanage Kits Volunteers Can Provide

In addition to kits, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) distributes other needed items that volunteers may provide. Your donation will represent the Church. Please ensure that quality and
appearance reflect appropriate high standards.

Orphanage Modules
A special module with quilts, various supplies, toys and children’s clothing is distributed to orphanages throughout the world. Instructions for most of the items listed below may be found at www.humanitarianservices.org
All items must be un-used.

· Flat twin sheets (66” x 96”, cotton or flannel fabrics)
· Soft toys, puppets, dolls, wooden toys and blocks Read more

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