by Charlotte Wilson | May 8, 2013 | Mormons in the News
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often inadvertently referred to as the Mormon Church) have great programs in place to help them serve the community. One of the most noteworthy programs is Mormon Helping Hands. Mormon Helping Hands reaches out to poor and struggling communities and provides volunteers to help accomplish community projects. One of the most recent Mormon Helping Hands took place in Rancho Santa Margarita, California.
Working together as families and friends
On April 27, 2013, families from all over southern California came to volunteer with Mormon Helping Hands. Men, women, and children donned the yellow vests and went to work on a landscaping project and a food drive. Parents brought their children with them, which made this day of service a wonderful family opportunity. Adult volunteers worked on applying mulch to a dog park, planting decorative plants by a parking lot, and repainting park benches. Youth and children volunteers collected food and hygiene items from neighbors and brought them to a local LDS chapel as part of a food drive for Second Harvest Food Bank.
On this one Saturday family members of all sizes had the opportunity to connect with others in the community. Through this service, parents not only taught their children about the value of hard work, but they also taught them the value of reaching out to those in need and the importance of connecting to your community. (more…)
by Terrie Lynn Bittner | Oct 16, 2012 | Mormons in the News
Philanthropy Roundtable featured a detailed article about a private welfare program that is succeeding at changing lives and helping people achieve self-sufficiency. This program is run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are often called Mormons. It helps Mormons to get through temporary difficult times and to give them the skills and resources to become independent. Additional programs serve people who are not Mormon world-wide.
For Mormons, the program is detailed. Although it is called a welfare program, it bears little resemblance to government welfare. Recipients do not receive a check to spend as they choose. They first meet with their ecclesiastical leader, a lay pastor who is called a bishop, to assess the family’s needs. These needs may be fairly comprehensive and so each program is completely personalized to meet those individual needs.
To cover the costs of this particular program, Mormons who are healthy are asked to fast for twenty-four hours the first Sunday of each month. They go without food or drink of any kind, including water, skipping two meals and all snacks. They then donate at least what they would have spent on food and drink to a special fund called the fast offering. This money funds the food and other commodities a person in their own congregation needs. If a congregation has few needs, their excess is used to help those congregations with greater needs and fewer who can provide it. (more…)
