This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Those committed to helping Utah's homeless include leaders of all stripes, from the state's most prominent Democrats to House Speaker Greg Hughes.
Add the Dalai Lama to that eclectic mix.
His Holiness donated $25,000 to Utah Gov. Gary Herbert late last month "for food and other direct benefits to homeless people."
The Tibetan spiritual leader asked that all proceeds from his June speech at the University of Utah's Huntsman Center go to worthy causes — sending $25,000 to Primary Children's Hospital and the remainder to the Utah Tibet Foundation.
Homeless advocate Pamela Atkinson, who accompanied the Dalai Lama during a 2001 visit to the state, was asked by his secretary to give the crowd a fiscal rundown after his speech.
"He's very strict that nobody should profit from his visits," she said after reporting the Dalai Lama's donation at Wednesday's quarterly meeting of the state's Homeless Coordinating Committee. "He always asks for very strict financial accounting."
Atkinson said she and others will try to find a use for the money that will have measurable outcomes they can share with the Dalai Lama.
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