Within four hours after receiving authorization to send aid to victims of Hurricane Mitch, the Church's Welfare Services Department had 260,000 pounds of relief supplies en route to Central America. As of Nov. 23, 1 million pounds of food and other relief supplies had been sent to Honduras and Nicaragua.

In an emergency, such as Hurricane Mitch, timeliness is of the essence. That's why Garry R. Flake, director of Humanitarian Service of Church Welfare Services, and A. Terry Oakes, chairman of the emergency response committee, say that when a disaster occurs, the time for preparation is past."We've had a tremendous number of calls from people wanting to help," Brother Flake said. "We've had everything from a Primary teacher in Tennessee wanting to know what her children can do, to a non-member physician who knows the effectiveness of our programs and wanted to know if she could be involved, to individuals who have come in and given donations."

Brother Oakes said, "People have called saying, `We've collected food and clothing, now how do we get it to Honduras or Nicaragua?' Some people have dropped off things at the Deseret Industries and said they wanted those items to go to Central America.

"We would want to say that members and others are also helping victims of disasters when they're paying a fast offering or they're donating time on our farms, in our canneries, our processing facilities, or donating things at Deseret Industries."

Without its streamlined organization, the Church would not be as effective in delivering food and other commodities in times of disaster. By the time individuals telephone asking for directions on how to help with one disaster, the Church has already responded to it and is in the process of preparing for the next emergency.

"The real preparation for disaster is what has been done beforehand," Brother Flake said.

Brother Oakes explained: "At the bishop's central storehouse, we have food and other items ready to go. The food that went to Honduras and Nicaragua was basically food that normally would go into our storehouse system to assist needy members. We just diverted some of that into the relief area."

The emergency response team typically sends food items that are requested by local priesthood leaders. "The food sent is selected on the basis of nutrients and what people are accustomed to eating," Brother Oakes said. "In Central America, they asked for rice, beans, sugar, salt, powdered milk and cooking oil.

"When we responded to the Russian Far East in 1996, we distributed family packs that had meat, some vegetables and fruit and flour. These were foods they were used to consuming. We have responded to emergencies in Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia - the Balkans - in a different way than we responded in Rwanda. Everyone has a basic diet. We can take what is being provided in the welfare system and adjust it to regional needs.

"In Central America, the area president told us what they needed. Honduras produces sugar but there's a sugar shortage right now, so we put in a little bit of sugar."

In many emergencies, clothing is requested. Clothing donated through the Deseret Industries is sorted and bundled at the Latter-day Saint Humanitarian Center, formerly known as the Sort Center. Bales of clothing - earlier sorted and baled by size and climate - can be en route to a disaster area within a couple of hours.

"One thing that many people don't take into consideration about providing humanitarian relief is transporting the items," Brother Oakes said. "It's crucial how we package the products, do the paper work, get clearances we have to obtain in order to send items to a relief area. We have to have all that in place in order for the people to even get the food or supplies. Tied to that, we have a local distribution system in those areas where one isn't already in place; otherwise, the food and supplies would just sit at the port and never get to the people in need."

Brother Flake said that because members had already contributed - either labor, items or money - humanitarian assistance to Central America was immediate.

"The same precept applies as in personal preparedness," he said. "If you have items on hand, you're ready to face the crisis. As members contribute to humanitarian assistance, they help the Church prepare ahead so that when the moment of crisis comes, the emergency response team can move into action immediately. In the Hurricane Mitch disaster, the first trucks were loaded and gone from the bishop's central storehouse within four hours.

"One shipment was transported on a Chiquita Brand Co. boat; another shipment was by a C-5 plane, the largest cargo plane flown by the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

"Everything was in uniform packaging. We knew exactly what was in every box and on every pallet. We had all the documentation so we were able to turn over the paperwork, loading began and the relief items were immediately on the way."

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

How to help

Members of the Church interested in helping out may do so by:

- Volunteering labor at the bishops' storehouse, welfare farm, cannery or Welfare Services project.

- Donating useful items through Deseret Industries.

- Making generous fast offering contributions.

- Donating through the Tithing and Other Offerings form by marking the category "Humanitarian aid." On forms that do not have this category, write "Humanitarian aid" in the category of "Other."

Individuals may send donations directly to Church headquarters by making checks payable to Humanitarian Service or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (write "Humanitarian Service" in the "For" category on the check) and mail to: Humanitarian Service, Floor 7, 50 East North Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84150.