MormonNewsroom.org pulls stories from its international Newsroom websites to show what leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world are doing to better the communities in which they live.
Chile: Fire Claims Lives and Destroys Homes—
Church Members Respond
Residents of Valparaiso, a western coastal city near Santiago, Chile, suffered what many are calling the largest fire in its history on 15 April. Close to 500 acres (1,200 hectares) were burned, severely impacting the people who lived there, including some Latter-day Saints.
Under the direction of local Church leaders, work crews were organized, and clothing, food and supplies were collected by Mormons and distributed to the many in need.
Read more about how Mormon Helping Hands volunteers were involved in this effort on the Chile Mormon Newsroom website (Spanish).
Uganda: Home for Elderly and Disabled Receives LDS Charities Donation
Mattresses, blankets and bed sheets have been donated by LDS Charities to the Mekedonia Home, a housing facility for Ethiopians who are elderly or mentally disabled.
Mormon missionaries Clyde and Dolores Moses, LDS Charities volunteers, toured the facility. They made it possible for the home, with its nearly 700 patients, to receive 300 blankets, 220 sets of sheets and 230 mattresses.
Visit the Uganda Mormon Newsroom website to read how this donation has made a difference for the homeless.
South Africa: Preserving Sight for South Africans
The Maluti Adventist Hospital in Mapoteng, South Africa, west of Johannesburg, provides excellent eye care, and now the care is even better with the donation of sight-saving machines by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The machines are used to help treat glaucoma, measure the level of pressure in the eye and prescribe, with exactness, the right glasses for patients. The new equipment will also help lower the costs for examinations and treatments.
Read how the hospital administration received the new equipment on the South Africa Mormon Newsroom website. In Ghana, the Church donated new eye care equipment as well. Visit the Ghana Mormon Newsroom website to learn more.
Colombia: Latter-day Saint Humanitarian Services Helps with new Wheelchairs
Five-hundred wheelchairs, canes, walkers, orthopedic cushions and crutches have been donated by Church Humanitarian Services to Colombian community support agencies.
The Church’s worldwide wheelchair initiative focuses on helping people with disabilities to become more mobile so they can improve their life and increase their educational and economic opportunities. Mormon volunteers will assist in training recipients and their support on how to maintain their own wheelchair.
Read more in the Colombia Mormon Newsroom website (Spanish).
Puerto Rico: Mormons Host Health Fair
Latter-day Saints in San Juan, Puerto Rico, invited their neighbors to a health fair recently held at a Church meetinghouse.
Medical professionals were available to teach visitors about high blood pressure, weight control, stress management, heart disease and diabetes. Mormons abide by a health code prescribed in the scriptures called the Word of Wisdom.
Go to the Puerto Rico Mormon Newsroom website (Spanish) to learn more.
El Salvador: Mormon Helping Hands Clean River Banks
Hundreds of Mormon Helping Hands volunteers went to work cleaning the banks of the Acelhuate River, which runs through the El Salvadoran cities of San Salvador, San Marcos and Antiguo Cuscatlan.
Church volunteers coordinated their efforts with the local government, and they visited with residents near the river to provide information and answer questions about health and environmental concerns.
Read on the El Salvador Mormon Newsroom website (Spanish) the story of the impact the volunteers made.
Washington State-USA: Latter-day Saints Help After March Mudslide Covers Part of Town
Mormons living near Darrington, Washington, about 120 miles northeast of Seattle, responded in the wake of a devastating mudslide which covered neighborhoods and State Route 530. The March 22nd slide occurred between the two towns of Oso and Darrington cutting off a vital connection to Interstate 5.
After hearing about the mudslide, Latter-day Saints and Mormon missionaries from Arlington, a town a few miles west of the slide, got busy helping the victims by donating manpower to help clean up the mud and debris as well as food, water and other supplies. Many members of the Church have worked long hours and driven many miles to help their neighbors.
Read more of the story at the Mormon Newsroom website.