The Wonderful World of Welfare

(This is a long post and perhaps on the surface not that interesting. But it's important so I hope you will read it.) Church Welfare Services is surely the best kept secret in the world. The way we operate welfare surpasses any other church or government as far as we are aware. The primary purpose of Humanitarian Services is to relieve suffering, to foster self-reliance for families of all nationalities and religions, and to provide opportunities for service. We help people but our main objective is to help people help themselves. The four main values in extending assistance are self-reliance, sustainability, leadership, and participation and work. We do not believe in or support idleness or the dole. When we look for a project or initiative that will help a large group of people, we get the people there to plan the project in a way to build self-reliance. It must be a project that can be sustained through the years. We look for a champion, one who is motivated and has some experience, to lead the charge with the idea of getting the people who will benefit from the project to do the work necessary to establish it. We also look for partners, non-governmental charitable organizations, community based organizations and sometimes the government to help with projects. The church then provides what the people are unable to provide for themselves. We are not in the business of training people so much as training trainers so that they can train people. That stretches our dollar and involves more people in the process. Our objective is to elevate people, to get them functioning on their own. As missionaries we are the field workers, looking for projects that the Church would be interested in supporting. We must do a lot of research and submit a well-documented initiative for approval. What is happening is unbelievable. People are actually improving their lives and although tons of money is spent, it is spent on the project and lifting the people as the missionaries are volunteers and paying their own way. Where else do you find anything as magnificent as this? Of course I'm just telling you it's so and haven't told you about any specific initiatives; there are just too many to write about now. I think about how Congress does so much talking about programs for the poor which are little more than doles and the means for keeping them poor. The Church is actually instrumental in turning lives around. We ate lunch today with Brother Reese who explained that the African people are willing to work hard but evil governments have kept them from having any means to prosper. Our eyes have been opened in so many ways. We are so blessed in this great country. We talk often how much for granted we take everything--we have no idea how much for granted our attitudes are. I have cried repeatedly because of the things I have seen and also because of the magnificent accomplishments of the Church. We don't broadcast our actions much because of the Savior's admonition to give alms in secret. But the Church explains when asked because we are to let our light shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven.

The pictures below are of our humanitarian trainers who are just below the Presiding Bishopric in authority. Sharon Eubank is in charge of the wheelchair initiative and is an enthusiastic, fast-paced teacher who kept our attention all day Wednesday. She served a mission in Finland but probably before Demetria as she didn't know her. In our wisdom we decided she isn't married because few men could feel they could measure up to her with her tremendous knowledge and ability. Patrick Reese is in Welfare Services and did most of the training for two days. Nate Leishman is one of three employees (Gary Flake is the head) of emergency response. Miracles have happened in getting millions of supplies to people hit by disasters all over the world. In the United States, members often help in the cleanup or whatever else might be needed. (Not all our help requires the values. When people are in desperate situations, we go in to help.)

Wheelchairs are one of the four major initiatives. The other three are neonatal resuscitation, vision and water. A new one is the Benson Food Institute and a side effort is immunizations. That means that we look for ways to benefit the people in these areas. There's actually much more, however. The area leaders which are in Hong Kong can suggest all kinds of initiatives as well. We also have emergency response and try to fill other needs that meet the criteria or the values talked about above. The quote in the picture above shows that helping the poor and the needy has been a part of the church since its inception. Membership in the church does not matter. Willingness does. That is, except in some cases of desperate need, the Church tries to teach and involve recipients according to the values described above.

Pictures above are from the Bishop's Storehouse where they do almost everything necessary to sustain life. The only thing not produced by the church that is used for welfare orders is fresh produce which they buy from a wholesale vendor. On the left is where milk from the church owned dairy is processed. From the milk, they also make butter, cheese, ice cream, and chocolate milk. The picture on the right shows items (hard to see) put into kits and sent to disaster areas. The destination of the kits determines the ingredients. The Church has sent unbelievable numbers of these food kits to victims of Katrina, California fires, Iowa floods, as well as to foreign countries when disaster occurs. A film we watched even had Ted Kennedy commenting on the impressiveness of what we do. It also showed a Salt Lake Catholic priest who says that many hungry people come to his church wanting food and it is the Church that donates food for them. Also at the Bishop's storehouse are a cannery for both wet and dry pack items, a bakery (we sampled the delicious bread, jam and cheese), huge silos which store wheat, Employment Services. The Church also owns trucks and ships the food produced there to 38 Bishops' storehouses all over the western states. This enormous place where so much is done is completely spotless--cleaned by some of those who receive products. One of the most touching things we learned about was Atmit--a porridge like food, redeveloped by the Church, which can be digested by starving children. A picture of a six-year old African who was nothing more than a small skeleton covered with skin turned into a healthy picture within six months of eating the Atmit, all for the cost of $5.

The two pictures above center and right show displays of items sent to other countries by the Humanitarian Center by the hundreds of thousands. Top left are donated quilts. Mostly blankets are sent but they like quilts which not only keep bodies warm but also "warm the hearts." Top right are 1000 pound bales of clothes in a huge warehouse. About 15 per cent of clothes donated to Deseret Industries goes on the floor for sale there. The Church doesn't want to be in the business of selling second hand things except that the stores give those with special needs real jobs. The rest of the clothing is sent to Salt Lake where it is sorted for humanitarian purposes. Clothing which is dirty or without buttons, etc., is put aside and sold to vendors who deal with rags, etc. The people who do the sorting, 3800 pounds a day, are people without jobs, skills, or the language. Part of the requirement for the job is to work with Employment Services to learn English, acquire a trade, prepare resumes and learn to interview so that they can get a good job. They are paid above minimum wage at the center but do not receive benefits. About 25 percent of these people are placed in jobs. Many do not want to work hard enough and quit. Others who are lacking in skills return to get more training. Employment Services even works with CEOs, etc., who have been outsourced or whatever and gets them placed in $80,000 to $200,000 jobs. Impressive!

On the left in the bottom picture are items for newborn kits; next are school items for children whose circumstances keep them from attending school; on the right are items for hygiene kits. They have been sent also in huge quantities to the poor in third world countries. In addition, they have orphanage and health modules, much larger than kits. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent yearly on such projects. So think about donating to the humanitarian aid if you aren't already. If you consider that if every member donated $5 to $10 per month, we would have a tremendous amount to work with. Any donated money goes far because it is so carefully managed and neither these donations nor perpetual education nor fast offerings have any overhead. Donated labor is used in every situation possible and overhead is supported from other funds. It is the best charity in the world. It's unsolicited and it goes entirely to those it is for. Fast offerings are for members while humanitarian is mostly for non-members. Perpetual education funds are for members in third world countries to pay for their education after which they repay the loan so that others can benefit.

Lobby of Joseph Smith Memorial Building (used to be Hotel Utah) where we had a gourmet meal at noon on the 10th floor. We were seated with Dean Walker from Humanitarian Services who will be at the MTC Tuesday to teach. He said that a project is already started with the Presad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, which we will work on. So we won't have to start in the dark thankfully. Brother Rudd, 90 years old, who has been in welfare services all his life said he has fought for senior welfare couples to have the nice meal because they are going to places where food will not be as plentiful or reliable as it is here. This is the building where I had dinner with my dad following my BYU graduation.