By donating close to $1 million to a Tallahassee, Florida, food bank called Second Harvest of the Big Bend, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is addressing the food crisis in the state.

The recent destruction from Hurricane Idalia near the Big Bend region of Florida prompted the church to send thousands of volunteers to aid in relief efforts. This brought to light a great need for food security in the 16 counties in the region.

“One out of every three children in the Tallahassee region does not have consistent access to healthy, nutritious food,” said Monique Ellsworth, Second Harvest’s chief executive officer, per a church release.

With the church’s donation, Second Harvest of Big Bend is nearly doubling the amount of food distributed each year, creating 8.2 million more meals than before, the church reported.

It’s not the first time the church has donated to the organization. Previous donations included:

• Four semi-trucks worth of food from the Bishops’ Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City.
• 40,000 pounds of food during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of that money will also be used to create an impact center to teach nutritional education and self-reliance courses to the public.

Ellsworth invited church leaders and other guests to tour the facility on Tuesday. Among them was Elder Vern P. Stanfill, who is the president of the North American Southeast Area for the church.

“We strive to answer that calling as we seek to join efforts with organizations like Second Harvest of Big Bend, who serve on the front lines of poverty blessing those in need,” said Elder Stanfill.

He said that the guiding star of the church’s humanitarian efforts, such as what’s going on in Florida, is the desire to fulfill Christ’s commandment of loving your neighbor.

“Food insecurity has been steadily increasing,” said Ellsworth, “and we need more organizations like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to recognize the growing need and ask, ‘How can I help?’”

Where else is the church alleviating the global food crisis?

In 2022, the church also contributed $32 million to the World Food Program, which feeds 1.6 million people in nine different countries each year. The organization has most recently helped those on the ground in Gaza.

The group posted on social media about the impact these funds made, calling the relationship “a partnership with an impact.”