Pear Orchard, USA. :
Emergency Response is the part of the LDS Church's humanitarian efforts of which most people are aware. Funds and supplies in this area are used to help victims of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, droughts, tornadoes, and hurricanes, as well as other disasters such as wars or political unrest. Supplies in this area are gathered and stored before a crisis, so supplies can be sent within hours of an emergency. Volunteers are also on call so they can be reached and organized within a few hours, if needed. The LDS Church is renowned for its ability to organize its members in various regions of the world to respond to emergency and facilitate distributing goods immediately after a crisis, often before aid programs such as the
Red Cross or the
Salvation Army come to assist. In 2008, the LDS Church responded to 124 disasters in 48 countries. :
Wheelchair Distribution is another program to help those in need. By providing needed wheelchairs, the church hopes to help people become more self-reliant which is an important tenet of its beliefs. :
The Clean Water Service provides clean water and wells to people who otherwise would most likely contract deadly diseases because of the dirty water. It is estimated that one billion people lack clean water. The clean water program is designed to partner with local community agencies to provide sustainable clean water. :
The Neonatal Resuscitation program sends doctors and volunteers to areas where infant mortality rate is high. They are able to teach people in the area how to resuscitate newborns, as well as provide simple medical equipment. It is estimated that nearly 1 million newborns die each year due to birth difficulties. Up to 10% of newborns have breathing difficulties. :
The Vision Treatment Training program teaches facilities and medical personnel in developing countries how to treat preventable or reversible blindness. There are 37 million people in the world who are blind, and up to 75% of blindness is treatable. The vision care program works with local vision health care centers to help treat and prevent blindness for the poor. In addition to these efforts, the LDS Church also has over 300 job development and placement centers around the world. In 2001, the church began the
Perpetual Education Fund which provides money to cover tuition and other school expenses to people in developing nations. As of 2007, tens of thousands of individuals had been given assistance. So far this program has operated primarily in South America and
Oceania. The LDS Church has also begun producing a nutrition-rich
porridge, named
Atmit, to help during acute famines. The church welfare program owns farms, ranches, canneries, and other food producing facilities to provide temporary food relief for families and individuals. LDS Humanitarian Services frequently works with other charities and
NGOs such as the Red Cross, Catholic charities and even various Islamic charities for which the LDS Church has produced
halaal food. From 1985 to 2009, the church reported it gave $327.6 million in cash and $884.6 million in commodities of aid throughout 178 countries. In February 2021, with the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic, Latter-day Saint Charities announced a pledge of $20 million to support
UNICEF in delivering vaccines worldwide. This added to an earlier $3 million donation to assist with food, water, and medical supplies, and represents the largest donation from the private sector to support UNICEF's ACT Accelerator and COVAX work. In 2022, the church's charitable expenditures exceeded $1.02 billion, an increase of nearly $100 million, up from $906 million in 2021. ==In Africa==