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SALT LAKE CITY — A $4 million donation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will provide food, shelter and basic necessities to refugees fleeing a war-torn Ukraine.
This money will be distributed equally between the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme, the church said in a statement released Monday.
"This gift is so much more than just a fleece blanket or warm place to sleep for a refugee family. It shows families fleeing that there is still a compassionate global community ready to help," said Anne-Marie Grey, CEO at the UN refugee agency. She said this donation, as well as others from similar organizations, have helped her find hope in the midst of a crisis.
The emergency gift will mean that families who have fled Ukraine will be able to continue to have the care and shelter they need.
The refugee agency aims to provide blankets, solar lanterns and shelter for an estimated 40,000 families displaced, while the World Food Programme will give four months of food to about 11,000 people.
The organization, which focuses on world hunger, hopes to help over 3 million people in Ukraine, as well as the more than 2.5 million people who have fled outside its borders. The World Food Programme also helps lead telecommunications and logistics for the United Nations.
What we really care about is helping people spiritually, emotionally and physically recover and build their societies back. That's the commitment from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
–Sister Sharon Eubank
In addition to these donations, the church has been providing service from the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, both through donations and through its worldwide congregations.
Missionaries in Berlin are visiting train stations with signs showing which languages they speak, to help Ukrainians find transportation and other aid. Two trucks full of sleeping bags, cots and tents were also sent by the church, to Hungary and Romania. Latter-day Saints in Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain have also helped provide food, clothing and shelter to Ukrainian refugees.
Sister Sharon Eubank, president of Latter-day Saint Charities, said at a session of the Horasis USA Meeting in early March that the church's humanitarian system keeps a two-year funding reserve so that it can quickly respond to crises.
"The disaster is only the very beginning," Sister Eubank said. "What we really care about is helping people spiritually, emotionally and physically recover and build their societies back. That's the commitment from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
