The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is providing food, water and other relief supplies to victims of recent flooding and landslides in Colombia, and plans to distribute more aid in the coming months, including 11 containers of much needed supplies from the Church’s Humanitarian Center and Bishops’ Central Storehouse.
Torrential rains in early December triggered flooding and landslides throughout a wide region in Colombia. Over 2.2 million persons and 300,000 homes across 28 provinces have been affected, and over 300 persons have been killed. No members of the Church have died, but an estimated 300 member families across several towns have been affected — many with severe damage to their homes.
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Church welfare personnel in Colombia met with the Office of the First Lady of Colombia following the disaster to discuss how the Church could best help. In addition to food and water, the Church will be working with the Colombian president’s group for social action (Acción Social), the Red Cross and the Catholic organization El Minuto de Dios to distribute seven containers of clothing from the Church’s Humanitarian Center.
Also, in partnership with Colombia’s Fondo Nacional de Calamidades, the Church plans to ship four containers of hygiene kits, school kits, newborn kits and blankets for distribution in February and March. These supplies are expected to meet the needs of thousands of displaced residents.
- Hygiene kits: 11,200 kits
- School kits: 8,400 kits
- Newborn kits: 7,680 kits
- Blankets: 9,600 blankets
- Clothing: 2,250 bales (equal to about 384,375 articles of clothing)
- Bedding: 375 bales (equal to about 22,500 bedding articles)
The Church has nearly 170,000 members in Colombia spread throughout 271 congregations.
Such assistance is made possible because of the commitment of individual Latter-day Saints to “care for the poor and needy.” This type of relief is drawn from contributions to the humanitarian fund of the Church. The clothing comes largely from donations made to Deseret Industries. In this manner, Church members act in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides relief and development projects for humanitarian purposes in countries all over the world. Projects operate without regard to the nationality or religion of the recipients. Humanitarian service may include emergency response to natural disasters, such as an earthquake or a tsunami, or man-made disasters, such as the effects of war and famine. It may also be part of a longer-term effort to meet serious and more entrenched human needs, such as the need to alleviate disease.
Those wishing to donate to the Church Humanitarian Aid Fund can do so here. Resources from the Church Humanitarian Aid Fund make it possible for the Church to conduct humanitarian activities all over the world. One hundred percent of all contributions are used to help the needy.