Church’s caring for those in need is ‘doing what the Savior would’

Along with the release of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Caring for Those in Need 2025 Summary on Tuesday, March 10, several Church leaders spoke about what the Church does to care for those in need, along with collaborating organizations around the world.

In 2025, the Church expended $1.58 billion in 196 countries and territories in efforts to care for those in need. The Church also donated 37,063,409 pounds of food through bishops’ storehouses and contributed to 569 emergency relief projects. Members of the Church volunteered in 3,514 humanitarian projects and spent 7.4 million hours volunteering throughout the year.

Presiding Bishop W. Christopher Waddell said the Church and members of the Church are doing “what the Savior did and what He would do if He were here.”

“Jesus Christ is about hope; and so when we do the things that He did, there is hope,” Bishop Waddell said.

In many areas of the world, the Church collaborates with charitable organizations and nonprofits to get resources and aid to people.

“We can’t get into some of these places where the need is so great,” said Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson. “There are otherwise vulnerable populations that we can’t get to, but they can.”

President Johnson said that collaboration allows the Church to serve “the one.” She encouraged anyone wanting to care for those in need to “do as the Savior would do and find the one.”

“We work the way the Savior would — to the one — looking for the one,” she said.

President Johnson also said that in “providing relief, we receive the Savior’s relief.”

“Personally, I have felt the love of God in the most profound ways when I’ve worked to provide relief — temporal relief — to others. God’s love has been manifest to me in the doing and in the sharing.”

Bishop Waddell added that seeing the impact around the world of the Church’s efforts gives him hope.

“One child at a time, one woman at a time, one man at a time — it works, it’s happening,” he said. “As many challenges as there may be, we can also point to the success that is taking place.”

Caring for women and children

The Relief Society organization is leading the Church’s efforts to care for women and children. This year’s summary highlights those efforts to improve the health and well-being of women and children around the world, especially through child nutrition, maternal and newborn care, immunizations and education.

To accomplish these objectives, the Church collaborated with eight global, nongovernmental humanitarian organizations. CARE — Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere — is one of the eight organizations.

Dana Tseng, senior director of philanthropy for CARE, said they’re working to make sure the root causes of why families experience poor nutrition are addressed.

“We’re working together with mothers to give them the tools and the resources they need to create healthier families,” Tseng said.

Those resources for mothers can involve planting home gardens “so that they have access to leafy, nutritious foods, leafy vegetables and other healthy foods,” Tseng said. “Or giving them the opportunity to raise chickens so they have eggs as a source of protein for their children.”

Michael Nyenhuis, president and CEO of UNICEF USA, another collaborating organization with the Church, said he is hopeful for the work they’re doing because of data that shows it’s working.

“We have evidence and data that shows the lives of children globally are much better today than they were 50 years ago,” he said. “We’ve conquered big problems. More kids are in school, more girls are in school, fewer kids are dying under [the age of] 5, more kids are vaccinated.”

Blaine Maxfield, managing director of the Church’s Welfare and Self-Reliance Services, said he was inspired during a recent trip to West Africa, where he saw a room full of women attending a literacy class. While the women were learning, their children sat next to them with whiteboards, also following along.

“So I couldn’t help but watch and think that the trajectory of this woman’s life is going to change forever,” Maxfield said. “And as I saw them, I couldn’t help but think: ‘Heaven sees you. Do you feel that?’”

How the Church cares for those in need

The Church’s efforts to care for those in need include both the work of the Church as an organization and the individual efforts of Church members across the world.

Many efforts are coordinated through the Church’s JustServe platform — a free website and app where community organizations list their service needs and where volunteers can find service opportunities around them.

Maxfield encouraged anyone wanting to get involved to look for opportunities on JustServe within one’s own community.

“Start with those that are closest to you, and look for ways to bless them,” he said.