Humanitarian Awards Dinner will honor Catholic Community Services' benefactors

Intermountain Catholic

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In October, Catholic Community Services took over the evening meal program at Saint Vincent de Paul Dining Hall form the Salvation Army. LDS Welfare Services provides much of the food that is prepared and served. IC photo/Laura Vallejo

SALT LAKE CITY — Catholic Community Services’ annual Humanitarian Awards Dinner honors those who help provide for people in need across Utah. This year, the Community Partner Award will be presented to LDS Welfare Services, which began in 1936 in response to the Great Depression.

Today, in addition to serving members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Welfare Services reaches out to those in need throughout Utah and the world – its humanitarian arm reaches into 178 countries and provides necessities such as food, medical supplies and school kits.

CCS’ partnership with LDS Welfare Services stretches back decades: they provide food to CCS’ food pantry in Ogden and furniture from Deseret Industries for the refugee resettlement program, among other aid.

"We’re honoring them because they are a great partner in the community," said Lauren McCarty, CCS public relations representative. "If we ask for help, they’re there. They want to help. They don’t want lots of fanfare, they just want to know that they’re helping meet the needs of the community."

Most recently, LDS Welfare Services began providing food for the evening meal service at Saint Vincent de Paul Dining Hall in Salt Lake City. Salvation Army handed service of that meal to CCS in October. The donation from LDS Welfare Services means "we don’t have to go out and find a whole meal’s worth of food, last minute, for an entire year," McCarty said. "It’s a great help."

LDS church members also have stepped forward as volunteers to help serve the meal at the dining hall, said A. Terry Oakes, managing director of LDS Welfare Services. "We just knew there was a need," he said. "It’s rewarding to those who help their neighbor. We feel that because of the savior, Jesus Christ, we have a responsibility to care for the poor and needy."

LDS Welfare Services is a partner for many other nonprofits in Utah, McCarty said. "They’re a big community partner. If they weren’t there to support us, that would be a great, gaping hole in some of our funding and some of our support that we would have to work very hard to fill, or we would not be able to fill at all."

Bishop H. David Burton, presiding bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will accept the Community Partner Award at the Nov. 10 Humanitarian Awards dinner. Others who will be honored will be the Sisters of Saint Benedict, the Sisters of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, Jon and Karen Huntsman and the CCS Unsung Hero, Katherine Mahoney.

To purchase tickets, call 801-428-1231.