Tamarra KemsleyThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Wednesday a $25 million donation to UNICEF — a contribution that is being matched, dollar for dollar, by the Bezos family of Amazon fame.
The resulting $50 million will be used to prevent and treat malnutrition in mothers and children around the globe, a current point of emphasis for the Utah-based faith, which holds a publicly reported “rainy day investment fund” worth more than $56 billion.
(UNICEF via The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Laveille cuddles her 6-month-old baby, Korotoum, in Ivory Coast.
“Our multiyear focus on maternal and child nutrition is designed to invest directly in the future,” President Camille Johnson, global head of the women’s Relief Society, said in a news release. “By addressing these critical dietary shortages, we are empowering mothers to help their children reach their potential.”
Last year alone, the church helped nearly 2 million children access screening and treatment for malnutrition, and distributed vitamins to more than 21 million mothers and children. Two years earlier, it divvied out $44 million to a host of organizations working to alleviate hunger within these same groups.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Camille N. Johnson, president of the Relief Society, speaks last year during a panel discussion on the efforts being made to improve the health of women and children around the world.
The current donation will go to the Child Nutrition Fund, established in 2023 by UNICEF, the Gates Foundation, the United Kingdom and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. Together, these groups set the goal of raising $2 billion by 2030 to provide nutritional programs to 320 million children and women annually.
Aiding that effort is a one-for-one matching program by the Bezos family up to $500 million.
According to the fund’s website, it has raised just shy of $300 million to date, of which it has disbursed $118 million.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell expressed her gratitude for the church’s donation, noting in the release that “it comes at a critical time and will help deliver lifesaving nutrition to millions of children and women who need it the most.”
For his part, Presiding Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, the ecclesiastical leader over the church’s vast financial, real estate, investment and charitable operations, used the announcement as a chance to underscore publicly the faith’s longtime partnership with the United Nations.
“Our long-standing work with UNICEF,” Waddell said, “reflects shared values and a commitment to care for those in need around the world.”
