something a little different

Being born and raised in Utah I not only knew about the Bishop's storehouse but remember walking the isles with my mother picking out toothbrushes when I was younger (my mom was single and a college student at the time raising 3 kids) All my friends knew about the bishop's storehouse, even my friends who were not members of the Church. I remember when I worked in the nursing home a friend of mine mentioned the bishop storehouse to me and told me how when she was talking to her state caseworker about how her food stamps just weren't enough to feed her 3 growing (football player sized) teenage boys who each consumed a gallon of milk a day, the case worker told her about getting a food order and going to the bishop's store house since you could only hit up the local food banks so many times a year and she had reached her limit.

At the time I was working and going to school and I know that when we were newly weds my husband and I had to go to the Bishop's store house when he got his hernia and had to take time off to have it repaired, I told her how nice everybody was and we talked about it a lot. We actually worked just a block away from Welfare Square in Salt Lake city at the time and I always loved driving past it.

Anyhow, I found this article online and thought it was rather interesting and that I would share it with you all, http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/08/08/where_empty_larders_find_overflowing_hearts/?page=1 it is an article on welfare square, it is actually an article down for a non-utah newpaper so I love how they explain everything, I have definately gotten more than my share of food and supplies from the store house with John losing jobs and my disability and all that has happened to us these last 6 yrs, but if someone asked me about the storehouse I wouldn't be able to explain it this well, I would be more like--umm it is where we get food from the church.

Anyhow, I must say the one thing this article doesn't do is it doesn't do justice for just how great the storehouse it, how you can get canned goods, fresh fruits and vegies as well as milk, fresh bread, and none of the stuff expires the next week like when you go to food banks and get food. I love how the food is good food to, like when my son was in diapers the diapers the church offers are Huggies, they even have name brand tampons and pads, since it is cheaper to purchase that in bulk then to produce their own.

Our church makes most of the stuff in the storehouses in Utah, they even make their own ice cream, milk, bread, and how I love their cheese (I once volunteered at the diary place on welfare square where they make the cheese and the quality and standards that they uphold everybody to--this is not like a soup kitchen where the person serving up the soup hasn't showered in a month) The Cinnamon and chili and pepper all come with the church's label on them, nothing thrills me more than seeing the churches label on my food because I can't help but think that no part of that food is bad for me, that is the Lords food and the Lord wouldn't allow anything harmful to be used when making it. They even make their own dish soap, laundry detergent and dish washing detergent, toilet bowl cleaner, and other cleaners as well and it is all done by volunteers.

Anyhow, I coudl go on and on, I really love the churches welfare system, I was a social work major and so I studied welfare systems and was just disgusted by the lack of help offered, I mean granted you could get food stamps but you couldn't get enough to provide for a family and even then you are making so little you can't afford a place to live--on the other hand the church allows you to get as much food as you need (for a 2 week period, then every 2 weeks you can do another order if you need to, this isn't suppose to be a permanent type thing but they will help out as much as you truly need it), and they do so much more than just offer food and supplies, they can help teach you how to cook, they help with the essential bills and you don't have to wait for the eviction notice like at some charities, and they can offering counseling at a discounted rate and so much more--the churches welfare system is so unique and yet it functions better than any welfare system in place today (as far as I am concerned) and it functions solely because of volunteers, who either volunteer their money or their time, or both, to help those who can't quite make it without a little push in the right direction/

I really hope you enjoy the article as much as I did