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WHIGHAM, GA. — As part of its international humanitarian aid program, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regularly donates food and supplies to communities in need. On May 4, the Church delivered a truck load (160 cases) of non-perishable food to the Lower Muscogee Creek Tribe in Whigham, Georgia.
“This delivery is the culmination of efforts made by a number of people,” said Doug Taylor, a leader in the nearby Cairo (GA) Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He noted that, after recent severe storms and other setbacks, the Tribe’s store of supplies was depleted. “This was the first donation from our church to the Tribe, and it felt good that we were able to help out.”
On delivery day, Taylor lined up a forklift truck from a local rental company, and both church and tribal members were on-hand for unloading the pallets of food.
The donated items came from the Church’s Tucker Georgia Bishops’ Central Storehouse. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has canneries and farms throughout the country that produce and process fruits, vegetables, peanut butter, dairy products, and meat. When processed, these foods are sent to the Bishops’ Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City for distribution to storehouses across the country.
This ongoing nationwide effort is largely funded by fast offerings, a program of the Church in which, one day every month, members fast for two meals and donate what they would have spent to the Church humanitarian fund. The proceeds are used for numerous causes within and outside the Church, including stocking the nationwide network of storehouses.
Taylor said far more than work took place on delivery day—some welcome visiting was done, too, as people of diverse cultures in the same community enjoyed laboring and chatting together.
“It went great,” he said. “Everyone was pleased and happy. It was a good thing we could help this way—we were told there were families needing the food immediately.”
