By NATALEE CAPPS
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints responded to victims of Hurricane Mitch yesterday by sending food and supplies to Nicaragua.
The Bishop’s Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City shipped two truck loads of food to Denver where it will then be sent by plane directly into Nicaragua. The food and supplies totaled 80 thousand pounds.
“We sent beans, rice, powdered milk, sugar, oil and soap,” said Rich McKenna, manager of the storehouse. “A local pharmacy in Provo donated medication to treat victims of cholera.”
Church officials are hopeful these supplies will help to relieve victims left homeless by the storm.
“There is significant destruction in Nicaragua. Communication lines are down, bridges are out,” McKenna said. “This is the first shipment that we’ve sent that is actually being sent into the interior of the country.”
The aid will benefit both church members and non-members in Nicaragua.
“This will just help,” McKenna said. “There is aid coming from all sources and this will just be a small piece of what ends up there.”
Seven other shipments of food have been sent from the Bishop’s Central Storehouse this week. These supplies are travelling by boat to help victims of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras.
The Bishop’s Central Storehouse provides supplies to all of the Bishop’s storehouses throughout America and Canada. During emergencies, they also fill special requests for victims all over the world.
The death toll has raised to 10,000 since the storm pummeled the Central American Coast last week. Officials say that 13,000 are still missing.
