Helping, Serving, Loving Our Neighbors

Our faith teaches us that “when we are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches us to follow the example of Jesus Christ in loving and serving our neighbors.

The NAACP and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints first came together in 2018 to in Church President and Prophet Russell M. Nelson’s words call on the entire world to “demonstrate greater civility, racial and ethnic harmony and mutual respect.” A year later, President Nelson told the NAACP national convention in Detroit that we strive to build bridges of cooperation rather than walls of segregation. We are all connected, and we have a God-given responsibility to help make life better for those around us. We don’t have to be alike or look alike to have love for each other. We don’t even have to agree with each other to love each other.”

At the Memphis Branch of the NAACP on Juneteenth 2023, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave $500,000 to help renovate the Memphis Branch of the NAACP creating an inviting community gathering spot for MyBaby4Me meetings. They also installed a commercial kitchen to feed the women and children participating in the program.

To promote education, the Church has given $2 million to fund 116 scholarships via the United Negro College Fund.

The extent of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints humanitarian efforts worldwide is substantial. Expenditures in 2022 for those in need in 190 countries worldwide exceeded $1 billion. The largest donations the Church gave in 2022 include $32 million to the World Food Programme and $5 million to UNICEF’s global nutrition program which helps malnourished children. Other significant donations were $5.1 million to the American Red Cross and another $5 million to Rotary International for polio and maternal and neonatal tetanus vaccinations. In addition, our members volunteered over 6.3 million hours of labor in humanitarian services. Helping Hands and JustServe are familiar to many people. These figures are, of course, an incomplete report of our giving and helping. It makes no mention of what our members do individually through innumerable charitable organizations.

Locally, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Wasilla Stake) contributed $9,000 to Kids Kupboard to install a new commercial dishwasher.

We follow the teachings of Jesus Christ as stated in scripture, “And thus, in their prosperous circumstances they did not send away any who were naked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished, . . . and they. . . were liberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no respect to persons as to those who stood in need.”

The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “A man who is full of the love of god is not content with blessing his family only, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.”