The Deseret Industries Sort Center sprawls over more than 153,400 square feet - covering a space about the size of 4.3 football fields. This mammoth building at 1665 S. Bennett Road (2030 West) in Salt Lake City has been the hub of the Church's humanitarian efforts worldwide since 1991. Each year, millions of pounds of clothing, thousands of pieces of medical equipment and tons of textbooks and other supplies are processed for shipping to areas of need throughout the world.

While the sheer volume of goods processed in and shipped from the center is impressive, its greatest work is not in pieces and pounds. It is reflected in the eyes and faces, the hearts and souls of volunteers and recipients alike. Fulfilling its mission to provide temporal relief, it nourishes spirits and builds lives as it serves as a means of development as well as a provider of relief.President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency and chairman of the Welfare Services Executive Committee, described the operations of the sort center as impressive. He encourages visitors to see the facility, which accommodates tours by appointment. From time to time, he accompanies special guests of the Church on tours for an up-close look at the essence of welfare services.

He spoke with the Church News about the one-on-one aspect of the sort center's operation. "Much of it begins when one person reaches into a closet and brings out an article of clothing no longer needed and gives that item to the Deseret Industries," he said. "It might be a dress a daughter has outgrown, or a suit no longer needed by anyone in the family. But it could be needed by someone else, perhaps in another land far away. The sort center provides a place to which donated clothing and other items not distributed or sold by Deseret Industries may be sent. Much goodwill comes from what the center does. It makes it possible to furnish much needed clothing and other items to those in distress in various parts of the world. It is a truly significant operation."

Ike Ferguson, director of Church Humanitarian Services, said: "While we have a lot of activities going on at the sort center, the point that we are trying to get to is blessing people's lives. We're helping them either developmentally or helping improve their self-reliance with the goods, equipment or supplies we make available to them."

Missionaries have a key role in this process. "We have numerous couples out in the field, some on assignment to institutional settings such as schools and hospitals," he explained. "Some visit and provide service in orphanages. These full-time missionaries do a lot of service, which we see as more important in many ways than the goods themselves. But when you complement the service of those missionaries with a cap to help keep a child warm, or a blackboard and books to help a student learn, or medical equipment that doctors can use to provide better medical care, then you come closer to serving the whole person. We try to serve as the Savior would serve, in a way that will lift the person, helping preserve or restore dignity.

"We are trying to have people be at the heart of what we are attempting to do and the things we provide only complement the principles we teach, the methods we try to inspire, the curriculum we might help them develop and so on, depending on the nature of what they are doing. Rather than just thinking of it as `give a man a meal' type of thing, we're trying to lift people.

"Sometimes people visit the sort center and only see the materials and goods there. They think that the Church is just making gifts of things. But the giving of things is just a complementary portion of the primary objectives - lifting people up along the way."

Volunteers conduct tours, hosted by appointment, of the sort center. At any given time, visitors will see 150-160 people busy at work. Most work in a huge area where clothing is sorted according to size and other criteria, and baled in preparation for shipment. Most workers at the center are there for a year or less. They work not only for wages but also for training. Missionaries also serve at the center.

Lloyd Pendleton, manager of the sort center, said: "It's probably best said that this is a job preparation program. We try to bring in people, who for whatever reason, are unable to find jobs. Perhaps they don't speak English, or they lack skills to find and keep jobs. For whatever reason, they're not able to go out and get a job readily in the community. While they work here, we provide job training. If the English language is a problem, we provide training in that. Our goal is to have them work here one year or less. Seven months is the average. Within that time, we generally have them trained well enough to find jobs in the regular work force."

Many who receive training at the sort center go on to find stable jobs. Some excel in their work. "We had one individual who came to us with very little experience. We put him to work in the employee cafeteria. He had had no previous experience in the food industry, but he was a quick learner. Although he spoke very little English, he was willing to speak it as much as possible. We saw that he had the potential to be a manager, so we encouraged him to look for a job in which he could grow and improve. He went to work at a restaurant, first as a part-time employee. He is now a full-time cook, and has won the restaurant's `employee of the month' award several times.

"A woman from Eastern Europe came here for job training. She learned Spanish while living in California. She is now manager of a Mexican restaurant."

Ronald V. Campbell, manager of medical and educational services, said, "We're practicing what we preach at Welfare Services. When we give something away, it fits in the context of building self-reliance and isn't just a handout. One of the ways we describe it is that we're working toward strengthening institutions or individuals, and building institutional or individual self-reliance."

Brother Campbell said the sort center is unique among other humanitarian efforts one might find throughout the rest of the world. "There is a certain spirit you feel about the work that is done here," he said. "The consecrated goods that come in, the spirit of the donors - these are very strong components of our operation. Everything we do here is done with the intent of improving the human condition."

President Monson pointed out that the building housing the sort center has not always had such a noble purpose. During World War II, the building was a munitions factory. President Monson turned to the scriptures as he commented on the diverse functions of the building that is now a key facility in humanitarian relief and development efforts worldwide: " `And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.' " (Isa. 2:4.)