LDS Charities

Inspired by a comment previously made, I decided to look into an example of what religious organizations can do to help strengthen health systems.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is just one of many religious groups who has worked to unify the world population of its members to save lives and build hope for all those in need through a number of programs within the LDS Philanthropies. 

One such program is called the LDS Charities.  Through donations, this group helps people become self-reliant and improve their quality of life through initiatives such as clean water, neonatal health, vision treatment, wheelchair production and food production.  LDS Charities also responds in emergencies to relieve suffering by providing life-sustaining support.  In the 150 Day Report, they have already donated 1.5 million pounds of food and supplies in emergency relief responses to Haiti and Chile.  In 2009:

1. 27,242 people in 30 countries benefited from the neonatal resuscitation program,

2. 989, 571 people in 24 countries benefited from the clean water programs,

3. 223,242 people in 23 countries benefited from the vision care program,

4.  8,400 people in 54 countries benefited from the food production program,

5. 56,017 people in 56 countries benefited from the wheelchair program,

6. and LDS Charities was able to respond to 102 disasters in 48 countries.

This is just one religious group, so imagine the service done by the religious groups in communities worldwide.  As you can see from the above examples, many of the services were focused in areas where lasting and sustainable improvements and changes were made.  It is inspiring to see how, through unified efforts, we can all make a lasting difference in someone’s life.