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SALT LAKE CITY — In addition to providing shelter in church buildings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has donated $1 million to the Red Cross to help it provide relief for Hawaii after wildfires in Maui.
The funds will support efforts to give shelter, meals, bedding, hygiene kits and other items to those who need it, along with providing medical, mental health and family reunification services.
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, first counselor in the church's Presiding Bishopric, met with a representative from the Red Cross on Sunday, along with other community organizations providing aid in the area.
He showed Hawaii Gov. Josh Green a shelter at a church meetinghouse in Kahului.
Green said what the church is doing is "extraordinary."
"We need everyone together. I think this kind of crisis brings people together. The sense of loss is there. There are people feeling desperation. They feel their lives, if they weren't lost in the fire, may be lost in other ways. You will lift them up," he said.
Elder Mark A. Bragg, a General Authority Seventy and president of the church's North America West Area, also visited Maui. On Friday he spoke with some of the 80 church members who have lost their homes on the island.
After leading a devotional with those members, he said they were joyful despite the recent loss of their homes. Elder Bragg said their response touched him.
"I would hope that everyone, church members and those who aren't members of our faith, that they feel hope. That there's a purpose in this," he said.
He spoke about hope at a devotional for youth.
"We can rebuild, we can strengthen our testimonies, we can bless the lives of other people," Elder Bragg told youth and their families.
He also toured a temporary shelter at a church building with Hawaii government officials, including Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke. She said it is probably the best shelter she has seen, giving people privacy and individuality.
"This is what faith, and this is what love is all about," she said.
She said it is amazing that the shelter was ready for people in less than one day.
"We are just so grateful for the outpouring of support. This shows what people are made of. In a time of crisis, in a time of devastation, it's people, it's community, it's the church that steps up," Luke said.
