Going International

Even after the Great Depression came to an end at the outbreak of World War II, President J. Reuben Clark Jr., Second Counselor in the First Presidency, providentially advocated continuing the welfare program. In October 1945, U.S. President Harry S. Truman called on Church President George Albert Smith (1870–1951) to determine how and when supplies could be delivered to areas of Europe devastated by the war. To President Truman's astonishment, Church leaders replied that the food and clothing and other relief supplies were already collected and ready for shipping.

Over time the Church expanded its welfare facilities and programs to cover more areas of need, including more geographical areas. In the 1970s, the Church expanded its welfare projects and production to Mexico, England, and the Pacific Islands. During the following decade Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay became the first countries outside the United States to receive Church employment centers.

With the formation of Church Humanitarian Services in 1985, the Church's international welfare efforts grew tremendously as clothing and other goods were sorted for shipment around the world in response to poverty and disasters.

Today the growth of the international membership of the Church, especially in developing nations, poses new challenges, which the welfare program is adapting to meet.