This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2009, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Peggy Fletcher Stack's story "This mission's focus: save lives, not souls" ( Tribune , Oct. 3) reports that since 1985, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has "provided $1.1 billion in cash and goods to 167 countries."
Let's take a closer look at these numbers: $1.1 billion divided by 24 years comes out to an average of $45.8 million per year. By the LDS Church's own numbers, it had approximately 6.2 million members in 1985 and 13.6 million in 2008, for an average membership of 9.9 million members over the last 24 years. Therefore, the church has donated, on average, $4.63 per member per year to its relief efforts.
Instead of being proud of this accomplishment, Latter-day Saints should be ashamed.
Michael Mirabile
West Jordan