Church members help flood victims
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Thousands of Brazilian members have stepped forward to help their fellow countrymen and women impacted by devastating flooding and mudslides.
A short time after flooding began, the Brazil Area Presidency called upon local members to provide relief. The Church is strong in the Sao Paulo region, so the area presidency asked stake presidents from the city's 39 stakes to donate 50 boxes of food, per stake, within 48 hours. Members were asked to deliver their donations to their respective stake centers, where priesthood leaders gathered the goods and transported them to the Church office complex located next to the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple. Some 10,000 volunteers were involved in the food donation effort.
At the meetinghouse, teams of women and children sorted the food items before repacking them into boxes. The boxes were then sealed and labeled prior to distribution. The entire recreation area of the meetinghouse was filled with volunteers and stacks of food boxes organized under the direction of local priesthood leaders.
The boxes were then loaded into four tractor-trailers. A small army of men and young men formed a human chain as they passed along each 55-pound box from the chapel, down a flight of stairs and into the trucks. Most of the volunteers donned yellow Helping Hands vests and enjoyed the opportunity to help others.
The relief effort was joined by several people who are not members of the Church. They simply wanted to help others by providing labor and donating relief supplies. Transportation costs in moving the food to flood-impacted regions of Rio de Janeiro were donated by two non-LDS companies.
All involved gave an extraordinary effort. All 39 stakes exceeded their assigned number of food boxes and more than 3,800 boxes were distributed to those in need. It's estimated that some 55 tons of food were donated in their effort.
