Reporter Electa Draper visited a Church-owned cannery in Aurora, Colorado, that dispenses everything from pudding to job-hunting advice for laid-off corporate executives.
In her report for the DenverPost, Draper notes that the Church’s aid program goes well beyond caring only for its own members. It also feeds a global humanitarian aid program.
The report describes the Church’s network of 751 storehouses, canneries, thrift stores, family-services providers and employment and literacy centers which serve 13 million members worldwide.
"Many churches have a lot of programs, but the comprehensive nature of what they're doing is unique," said Jan Shipps, an emeritus professor of religion at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis.
Welfare needs often spill over to humanitarian needs. Between 1985 and 2006, the Church donated cash of more than $201 million and goods of more than $705 million in disaster relief to 163 countries.
The Church requires members to fast once a month and give the money they would have spent on meals to the Church’s welfare program. Members also pay 10 percent of their income as a tithe, which primarily funds its worldwide operations.