Since 1985, LDS Charities (the humanitarian vehicle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) has donated billions of dollars in food, commodities and volunteer hours in the wake of natural and man-made disasters.
A new video describes the organization’s 30-year history, which has its roots in the response to the Ethiopian famine of the early 1980s, which claimed nearly 400,000 lives. In the midst of that crisis, the Church raised $11 million in two days — funds soon used for food, tents and medical supplies via partnerships with the International Committee of the Red Cross, Catholic Relief Services and CARE.
As it did then, today LDS Charities partners with organizations that share its values of self-help, thrift, work and service to help the hungry and needy in distressed areas.
“Discovering, nourishing and protecting the inner richness of each human soul are LDS Charities’ reasons for being,” the video says. “In truth, stronger character is the ultimate sustainable development.”