Across Europe, Latter-day Saints Help Lead Humanitarian Efforts

The refugee crisis on the Ukraine border is complex and the humanitarian aid requirements are urgent and multi-faceted. When the crisis began on 24 February this year, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints immediately established a framework for Church member refugee integration. The focus included the creation of gathering hubs to provide for immediate refugee needs, plus a process to connect displaced individuals and families with a timely connection to local Church congregations where they can find temporary housing, food, other supplies, and social and spiritual refuge.

When a calamity or disaster strikes anywhere in the world, the Church quickly assesses needs for missionaries, members, and friends. Most often, the vast majority of those to whom assistance is provided are not Church members, but rather friends and neighbors in local communities.

Since the onset of the crisis, Welfare and Self-Reliance Services (WSRS), a department of the Church, has been proactively involved in hundreds of humanitarian outreach efforts throughout Europe.

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Together, with local Church leaders and members, the department is coordinating assistance for those of all faiths at border crossings, gathering hubs and local Church buildings.

In Poland, Humanitarian missionaries are supporting volunteer efforts at the large Tesco refugee reception centre. Several young Church missionaries are busy there cleaning, serving food and providing language assistance. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has donated a laptop to support the volunteer coordinator in keeping track of information on volunteers, and a washing machine to help expedite the cleaning of mops, towels, and supplies.

Two former senior missionary volunteers to Slovakia have recently come to Poland for several months to help with refugee efforts, working as technical representatives. They are coordinating projects with other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s). For example, Save the Children is transporting forty orphans stranded in Ukraine to a new home in western Poland. The Church has donated bedding, irons, and hot water kettles to the joint effort. During a pause in activity near the Poland/Ukraine border, one senior volunteer recently noticed a deaf couple signing alone in a corner. She walked up to them, greeting them through sign language as they responded with big smiles. Sign language commonly provides effective country to country communication.

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In Hungary, the Church found an NGO that is renting an entire hotel for refugees. This 62-room hotel can house up to three hundred women and children for short-term stays. The Church will help cover the cost of rent at the hotel.

In Slovakia, the Church is working with Nadacia Pro Futura to provide baby food and hygiene items for distribution to mothers with babies or toddlers arriving at the border. To date, four hundred kits have been given out. The Church also purchased and donated a new refrigerator and a wood stove heater to refugee centres in Baškovce.

In the Czech Republic, two refugee centres have been created by the Church. One is at the European Community Outreach Centre at Cumorah Academy near Prague. This facility offers accommodation, meals, and education to almost fifty Ukrainian member refugees, eight of which are actively preparing to be Church missionaries. Another centre has been established to accommodate up to one hundred member refugees, providing a first stop as they arrive for temporary refuge. Food and lodging are offered free of charge, and local Church members help refugees integrate into cities with established churches and branches to provide social interaction as well as spiritual refuge.

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Iceland is a small and distant country but has also been active in receiving and hosting refugee families including a member family who fled Odessa in Ukraine to come to Iceland. The Church in Iceland is also contributing financially to the efforts of established NGO’s helping displaced individuals from Ukraine. In total, over six hundred displaced individuals have arrived in Iceland from Ukraine, and each has been provided with lodging and employment. At one supermarket in Reykjavik, shoppers are given the option to add five hundred Icelandic Kronas to their charges as a donation to refugees.