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Inside the LDS Church’s Bishops’ Central Storehouse

Posted at 2:40 PM, Mar 17, 2014
and last updated 2014-03-17 16:40:11-04

SALT LAKE CITY -- A large warehouse owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the main storage facility for the church's welfare program.

The Bishops' Central Storehouse, at 5405 West 300 South in Salt Lake City, is the central warehouse where food and crucial household items like soap and toilet paper are stored before distribution to smaller locations around the world.

"If a person is in need of assistance first they would go meet with their local bishop. This applies to whether they're a member, or a non-member and teach them principles of self-reliance from the scriptures. And teach them to see if they're doing all they can to stand on their own two feet and help themselves," said Richard Humpherys, Storehouse Manager. "Then, [the bishop] would ask the Relief Society president, which is the president of the women's organization in the ward, to go to that family and go fill out a two week food order. Then they would take that food order to one of our store houses which is like a grocery store, the only difference is there's no cash register."

Welfare recipients may be asked to help with tasks to benefit the LDS Church, such as cleaning chapel or assisting in stocking shelves at a local storehouse.