Church Responds to Global Pandemic

In a letter sent to its general membership dated April 14, 2020, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that to-date, it has partnered with other trusted organizations in more than 110 humanitarian aid projects in 57 countries to bring relief from the devastating effects of COVID-19. Some of these partnerships include work with Project Hope in China, Moms Against Poverty in Iran, INTERSOS in Italy, Fatherland Front in Vietnam, and the Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), an arm of the Seventh-day Adventist church. Through these projects, the Church is providing personal protective equipment, medical equipment, food, hygiene products, cash, and other commodities to multiple humanitarian agencies, health ministries, and hospitals.

In continued response to the global pandemic, the Church also announced that its Beehive Clothing facilities in Brazil, Mexico, Paraguay, the Philippines, and Utah are temporarily converting operations from manufacturing religious clothing to the sewing of surgical masks and gowns. In like manner, Church members throughout the country are partnering with various organizations in sewing masks for hospitals, first responders, and elder care facilities; in Utah alone, members of the women’s organization known as the Relief Society teamed with Latter-day Saint Charities, Intermountain Healthcare, and University of Utah Health in sewing five million masks.

Additionally, the Church has ramped up production at its canneries and food processing plants, sending many truckloads of badly needed resources to food banks throughout the United States, as well as designated communities. One such community is the Navajo Nation Reservation encompassing parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Two truck loads of food and supplies were recently delivered to a Pentecostal church for distribution to the elderly and other high-risk individuals, including those on oxygen, in wheelchairs, latchkey elders, and families with no transportation, many of whom live up to 50 miles away from grocery stores.

Church leadership closed its letter with the invitation to its members to continue participation “in these and other relief projects in their areas and communities as opportunities arise and as local government directives and personal circumstances allow.”