PBS profiles Mormon welfare program

A Happy Hubby says:

Thanks for passing this on. With all my disagreements with much of what goes on in the church, the welfare program is an area I think the church comes as close as anything they do to just being Christ-like. I always like the time I volunteer to help.

I can’t say I agree that “the Mormons are ALWAYS first to the scene” as from where I am at, the Red Cross takes that prize. I also read that the church spends $40 million a year on welfare (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865657898/LDS-Church-welfare-humanitarian-efforts-average-40-million-per-year-apostle-says.html?pg=all). That does sound impressive. But when you run even quick high level numbers, it leaves me scratching my head. There are 15 million members with between a 30% to 50% activity rate gives between 5 and 7.5 million members. Spread that $40 million across that many members and it turns out to be between $5 and $8 per year per member. That would mean that the fast offering per MONTH of the average member would be between 50 and 70 cents. That just does not add up. Maybe that doesn’t include stuff like house and car payments that are sometimes given out of fast offerings. But then that comes back to having a desire to have some reasonable financial disclosure. Sorry – I tried to be positive, but just couldn’t leave it at that.