First Presidency Announces More Than 110 COVID-19 Relief Projects in 57 Countries
Contributed By Sydney Walker, Church News staff writer
Warehouse workers load supplies in Salt Lake City as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sends aid to China on Wednesday, January 29, 2020. Respirator masks, protective goggles, and protective suits were sent. Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News.
Article Highlights
- Church leaders have approved more than 110 relief projects in 57 countries.
- Members are invited to participate in these and other relief projects in their communities.
“May we be blessed in our efforts to care for others and provide hope and help to our Heavenly Father’s children everywhere.” —The First Presidency
Continuing to address needs during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is partnering with other organizations around the world for relief projects, the First Presidency announced in a letter on Tuesday, April 14.
More than 110 relief projects in 57 countries have been approved by Church leaders as of April 14, according to the letter. Church members are invited to participate in these and other relief projects in their communities.
“Most of these are done with trusted partners from humanitarian agencies, health ministries and hospitals, which allows us to use our resources—including food, hygiene products, personal protective equipment, medical equipment, cash and other commodities—in places where they can do the most good,” the First Presidency wrote.
For example, Beehive Clothing facilities in Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay, the Philippines, and Utah are temporarily shifting their operations from the manufacture of religious clothing to the sewing of masks and gowns needed by local health care professionals and communities.
In Utah, the Relief Society is leading participation in a partnership between Latter-day Saint Charities, Intermountain Healthcare, and University of Utah Health. Church members, in their homes, will help sew five million clinical face masks, which will be donated to health care workers.
“We’re trying to work with governments [and] community leaders and find out what they need and then respond,” Sister Sharon Eubank, president of Latter-day Saint Charities and a member of the Relief Society General Presidency, told Newsroom.
Warehouse workers load supplies in Salt Lake City as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sends aid to China on Wednesday, January 29, 2020. Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News.
Volunteer Earl Tulley delivers a box of food to a woman on the Navajo Reservation Monday, April 6, 2020.
“Latter-day Saint Charities is very lucky because we have partnerships, whether it’s a pandemic or not,” Sister Eubank added. “We’ve had trusted relationships over time. So when there is a pandemic, we don’t have to start from scratch. We know exactly how to help each other.”
The First Presidency wrote, “We gratefully acknowledge those who have joined with us in prayers and fasting for heaven’s help to address the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We know that God will hear and answer our prayers. We have been taught to be ‘anxiously engaged’ in relieving suffering and caring for those in need (see Doctrine and Covenants 58:27).”
“We invite our members to participate in these and other relief projects in their areas and communities as opportunities arise and as local government directives and personal circumstances allow. May we be blessed in our efforts to care for others and provide hope and help to our Heavenly Father’s children everywhere.”
Warehouse worker Adam Hunt holds a respirator mask, protective goggles, and a protective suit in Salt Lake City as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints contributes aid to China on Wednesday, January 29, 2020. Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News.
Food from the Bishops’ Central Storehouse in Utah is unloaded at a Pentecostal church in Tohatchi, New Mexico, on Thursday, April 2, 2020, for distribution on the Navajo Reservation.
