LDS Humanitarian Services
Latter-day Saint Charities is a branch of the welfare department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The organization's stated mission is to relieve suffering, to foster self-reliance for people of all nationalities and religions, and to provide opportunities for service.
Overview
The LDS Church considers humanitarian work to be an essential part of its mission to bless humanity. In 1842, Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, organized the Women's Relief Society, with a primary focus to provide "relief" to suffering members and ultimately to all people. During the Great Depression the LDS Church organized a welfare program, now administered by the church's welfare services department, to help provide for the needs of its members.LDS Humanitarian Services was created to coordinate these efforts in partnership with government, and other nonprofit agencies around the world. The church's humanitarian work primarily helps those in need who are not members of the church. Key humanitarian initiatives include clean water, vision treatment, wheelchair provision, neonatal resuscitation, and disaster relief. Other initiatives include immunizations, family enrichment programs, and family food production. In 2008, LDS Humanitarian Services provided aid to 3.3 million people in 122 countries, and since 1985 help has been given to 23 million people in 189 nations.
The funding for LDS Humanitarian Services comes from the philanthropic support of the church's members and other donors. Donations to the Humanitarian Fund are collected through local bishops and LDS Philanthropies.
Humanitarian initiatives
In addition to these efforts, the LDS Church also has over 300 job development and placement centers around the world. In 2001, the church began the Perpetual Education Fund which provides money to cover tuition and other school expenses to people in developing nations. As of 2007, tens of thousands of individuals had been given assistance. So far this program has operated primarily in South America and Oceania. The LDS Church has also begun producing a nutrition-rich porridge, named Atmit, to help during acute famines. The church welfare program owns farms, ranches, canneries, and other food producing facilities to provide temporary food relief for families and individuals. LDS Humanitarian Services frequently works with other charities and NGOs such as the Red Cross, Catholic charities and even various Islamic charities for which the LDS Church has produced halaal food.From 1985 to 2009, the church reported it gave $327.6 million in cash and $884.6 million in commodities of aid throughout 178 countries.
In February 2021, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Latter-day Saint Charities announced a pledge of $20 million to support UNICEF in delivering vaccines worldwide. This added to an earlier $3 million donation to assist with food, water, and medical supplies, and represents the largest donation from the private sector to support UNICEF's ACT Accelerator and COVAX work.
In 2022, the church's charitable expenditures exceeded $1.02 billion, an increase of nearly $100 million, up from $906 million in 2021.