During the Great Depression, when unemployment ran 30 percent among members, the church formalized its welfare system. The can's label is stamped "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" and "Welfare Services, Salt Lake City, Utah." This, Humpherys said as he holds the can in his palm, is "the best food money can't buy."The new storehouse, which opened in January, is the centerpiece of the LDS Church's intricate network for taking care of its members and lending a hand to others in times of natural disasters, putting scriptural encouragements into action in the aftermath of hardship, hurricanes, floods, fires and earthquakes across the nation and around the world."As I walk through, I think, 'What a beautiful building' but how the Lord must truly love the poor to provide this building to take care of their needs," Humpherys said during a tour of the facility, built with members' donations.Since its inception, the LDS Church has viewed looking after its members' well-being as part of its core mission. George.Richard Humpherys, storehouse manager, stops a golf cart next to one steel storage rack, slits open a cardboard box with a pocket knife and pulls out a can of peaches made with fruit grown at an LDS Church orchard and processed at its cannery in Lindon. The storehouse can dispatch food, supplies and volunteers anywhere in the United States within 12 hours to 18 hours of a disaster, though it often reacts even quicker.Īt the new Utah Bishops' Central Storehouse, pallets loaded with food wait to be ferried to locales near and far, their destinations handwritten in black marker on plastic wrap covers: Lindon, Ely, Mesa, San Diego, St. The warehouse at the LDS Church's new Bishops' Central Storehouse Salt Lake City on March 6. Richard Humpherys, manager of the LDS Church's new Bishops' Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City, talks about the services the storehouse provides in a hallway lined with inspirational quotes and photos. Peaches that were canned by the LDS Church are stored at the new Bishops' Central Storehouse Salt Lake City on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake TribuneĮmpty food cans are stacked high at the LDS Church's new Bishops' Central Storehouse Salt Lake City. From there, the goods fan out to more than 200 local storehouses. The storehouse uses its own fleet of trucks to take food and supplies across the country to five regional storehouses. Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake TribuneĪ Deseret Transportation semitruck is loaded at the LDS Church's new Bishops' Central Storehouse Salt Lake City. Richard Humpherys, manager of the LDS Church's new Bishops' Central Storehouse Salt Lake City, Utah, explains the advanced technology that is involved with the fork lifts at the storehouse on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. The site will also support the church's trucking fleet. The storehouse includes administrative offices, bulk/rack storage and refrigeration areas. The storehouse is central to the church's welfare and humanitarian programs. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has completed a new 570,000-square-foot Bishops' Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City on a nearly 36-acre site. 26, 2012, to one of the other five distribution centers. Storehouse worker Matt Van loads boxes of peas for shipment Thursday, Jan. For disasters outside the U.S., the LDS Church typically sends cash rather than food and supplies, avoiding expensive shipping costs and helping to re-energize local economies. The warehouse at the LDS Church's new Bishops' Central Storehouse Salt Lake City on MarchĪ route map shows distribution centers across the country at the LDS Church's new Bishops' Central Storehouse Salt Lake City. Richard Humpherys, manager of the LDS Church's new Bishops' Central Storehouse in Salt Lak Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune Peaches that were canned by the LDS Church are stored at the new Bishops' Central Storehou Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune Richard Humpherys, manager of the LDS Church's new Bishops' Central Storehouse Salt Lake C Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake TribuneĪ Deseret Transportation semitruck is loaded at the LDS Church's new Bishops' Central Stor Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake TribuneĮmpty food cans are stacked high at the LDS Church's new Bishops' Central Storehouse Salt Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune 26, 2012, to one Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune A route map shows distribution centers across the country at the LDS Church's new Bishops' Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune