BOMBAY, India — Latter-day Saint Charities, a distribution arm of the Church's Humanitarian Service, was recognized in India Jan. 11 by the prestigious Diwaliben Mohanlal Mehta Charitable Trust in a ceremony here.
Gary Winters, manager of field operations for Church Humanitarian Service, and Douglas Rose, the in-country representative of LDS Charities, received the "Progress in Religion" award at Bombay's Nehru Auditorium.
The "Progress in Religion" award was inspired by a conversation between the Trust's founder, Mafatlal Mehta, and Mother Teresa, who had received a similar recognition in Great Britain. Latter-day Saint Charities was the only international organization included in the award ceremony, which also recognized the work of nine individuals with long records of service to needy people in India.
The selection committee, chaired by the former chief justice of the Supreme Court of India, P.N. Bhagawati, praised the organization, noting that since 1990, LDS Charities has formed partnerships with more than 50 Indian government, private and non-governmental organizations, "providing skilled volunteers and donating educational materials, clothing, food commodities, equipment, medical supplies or grants according to the organization's needs."
The citation praised Latter-day Saint Charities for having "no direct or indirect relevance to caste, creed, religion or faith. There is no discrimination whatsoever in its approach toward relief work."
The Jan. 12 edition of The Times of India, the country's leading newspaper, reported the award.
Representatives of the Church have worked with the Diwaliben Mohanlal Mehta Charitable Trust over the past several years, providing food, clothing, medical equipment and other relief supples to meet pressing needs throughout the country. In recent times the partnership has made it possible to assist victims of a serious drought in western India and flood and cyclone victims in the eastern part of the country.