The story of a little boy's hunger for something as simple as a bowl of oatmeal characterizes the spirit of welfare portrayed in a new book, Pure Religion: The Story of Church Welfare since 1930.
The story begins on the morning of Christmas Eve in 1970 when the manager of a bishops' storehouse received a telephone call about a mother on crutches and four young children who had recently arrived in Salt Lake City and moved into a small apartment. They were members of the Church but had not been in the city long enough to contact a bishop.As the manager visited the mother, it became obvious to him that the children were not expecting a Christmas. That morning, a generous donor had given the manager $50, "for someone in need." He asked the mother what the children would like. She said they were prepared to go without, but she agreed that a small Christmas tree would be appreciated.
The little girls also said they would like a doll or stuffed animal. The little boy, who was about 6 years old, simply said, "I would like a bowl of oatmeal."
How hungry the boy must have been! The manager told him he would get some good oatmeal, and maybe something else too. With the donated money, the manager and his family purchased toys for the children, an inexpensive watch for the mother, a tree and some ornaments. The manager and his children took the tree and gifts, along with food and clothing to the mother and her children. The little boy received a large package of oatmeal.
The mother was in tears and the children were overjoyed.
This is but one of many anecdotes in the book Pure Religion, published by the Church and endorsed by the First Presidency. The book was written by Glen L. Rudd, who has spent a lifetime serving in Church welfare. In 1945 while in his mid-20s, he became involved with Church welfare when called as bishop of a large ward that included 80-95 widows and where at least 50 families required assistance each month. He served 10 years in this ward. A companion bishop in an adjoining, similar ward was Thomas S. Monson, now first counselor in the First Presidency.
Brother Rudd is a former mission president, temple president and member of the Seventy. He was invited in 1992 by the First Presidency to write the history of welfare using his own files and memories.
"The three years of preparing this book have been some of the most spiritual of my entire life," Brother Rudd told the Church News. "Even the title came to me by inspiration after I had selected 19 names and rejected them all. It came as a moment of inspiration."
Pure Religion describes today's Church welfare program as it provides the needy with basic necessities, including employment, job training, food, clothing, shelter, medical care and a variety of social services. The book emphasizes the role of bishops, priesthood quorums, the Relief Society and individual members in restoring the needy to lives of dignity, industry and self-reliance. The program's broad reach extends to serve other human needs through disaster relief, humanitarian services, sheltered workshops for the handicapped and individual and family preparedness.
Brother Rudd described in the book the desperate human need that led to the organization of the program in 1936.
In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, many men were seeking work, and after long days without success they would return to their homes discouraged and disgruntled. Their wives and families suffered, not only from a lack of necessities, but also because of conflicts brought on by discouragement and low self-esteem. Even families who were committed to the gospel began to have problems they never had before.
Church leaders were deeply concerned with what they saw: groups of men with nothing to do. The curse of idleness worried them as much as the curse of want.
To alleviate these twin curses, the stake presidents in Salt Lake City in the early 1930s obtained vacant buildings that they remodeled as storehouses, canneries and employment centers, using volunteer labor and donated supplies.
Pure Religion tells how each stake had its own system and its own challenges. In 1934, an early snowstorm prevented harvest of seven remaining acres of sugar beets. "The men and boys had worked so hard and felt very discouraged to think that all the work they put in would be to no avail," said Bishop Jesse M. Drury of the Salt Lake Fifth Ward.
A special prayer service was held. Fred J. Heath, Pioneer Stake work director, offered the prayer. "His every word was etched in faith and we felt the depth of his words," one member recalled.
"That very afternoon a chinook thawing wind came up and by Monday morning all the snow disappeared and the ground was all thawed out. . . . They harvested approximately 75 tons of sugar beets. . . . Just as they took the last load in, another snowstorm set in."
One keen observer of the stakes' successful accomplishments was President Heber J. Grant, according to Pure Religion. Later, counselors in the First Presidency and various members of the Quorum of the Twelve testified that President Grant received revelation to create a general Church welfare plan.
In the April 1936 general conference, the First Presidency announced a "Church Security Plan," and issued what has since become a founding guideline of the welfare program:
"Our primary purpose was to set up, in so far as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self-respect be once more established among our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle in the lives of our Church membership."
Pure Religion tells of the building of Welfare Square, which soon became the flagship operation of Church welfare, a visible display of helping others to help themselves. At the same time, the book notes, production of food and goods throughout the Church intensified, along with priesthood training.
Brother Rudd described those who benefited from the welfare program. Among them was a 13-year-old girl who came to the storehouse one evening carrying a bishop's order for new shoes. She was one of 12 children of a widow. The girl was disappointed when she saw the plain shoes described by the order, but was willing to accept them. Bishop Drury, then the storehouse keeper, couldn't find any of those shoes that fit. So he brought out a pair of red shoes.
Her eyes grew wide with admiration, but she said, "Those are much too fancy. I could not have them."
Bishop Drury assured her that she should take the shoes because they fit her so well. Then he showed her colorful ankle socks. Her fingers rested on the new socks and the bishop told her to pick out three pair. She was close to tears now, so great was her joy. She happily left with her new shoes and socks.
According to Pure Religion, the welfare program stands the test of time well. In 1945, the Church provided nearly 6.7 million pounds of food and clothing for war relief in postwar Europe. Today, some 45 tons of clothing are processed daily for needy areas of the world. On many occasions since, the system has provided vitally needed supplies for disaster relief.
For example, the book recounts how in 1976 the earthen Teton Dam in southeastern Idaho collapsed, releasing a 50-foot-high wall of water that destroyed a number of communities in its path. Some $1 billion in private and public damage was done by the flood.
The response to the disaster was a modern miracle of Welfare Square. More than 31,000 Church volunteers came to help in the first two weeks, and volunteers eventually donated more than 1 million hours in the cleanup. Tons of food and clothing were shipped from Salt Lake City, and hot meals were served to those made homeless. Medical and social services also were provided.
This revealing and inspiring history of welfare includes, for the first time, the story of Humanitarian Services, a new and vital dimension of welfare.
According to Pure Religion, members worldwide participate in the welfare program. The book recounts how members in western Europe donated supplies to non-members suffering in the conflict in Croatia and Bosnia. These members boxed the supplies and then, remembering the children, included a large bag of teddy bears with the shipment.
In Croatia, a member unloading the supplies counted 59 teddy bears. As the supplies were later distributed by a missionary couple at a refugee center, they counted, to their dismay, 61 children.
The supplies needed to be distributed immediately. The couple had no time to go in search of another two teddy bears. But as they handed out boxes of food and the stuffed animals, they found there were exactly 61 teddy bears.
Through the pages of Pure Religion, one can see fulfillment of the vision of early leaders as expressed in the words of President J. Reuben Clark Jr., who said in 1936:
"The real long-term objective of the Welfare Plan is the building of character in the members of the Church, givers and receivers, rescuing all that is finest deep down inside them, and bringing to flower and fruitage the latent richness of the spirit, which after all is the mission and purpose and reason for being of this Church."
Millions of lives have been uplifted by the welfare program, and the future bodes well for a continuation of this divinely inspired work as foreseen by President Harold B. Lee, who said:
"This program will last as long as this Church exists as a Church."
