Cindy McCain, the executive director of the United Nations’ World Food Programme, and a couple of her colleagues recently got an insider look of the humanitarian efforts of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they visited with church leaders and toured the church’s humanitarian facilities in Salt Lake City.
“We deeply value our longstanding collaboration with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” McCain said in reaction to her tour and visit of both the church’s Welfare Square and the Bishops’ Central Storehouse.
“For 12 years, we have been working together to assist millions of people facing hunger and hardship in 49 countries around the world,” she continued. “The church’s generosity has not only saved lives; it has also helped families build the skills, resources and resilience they need to find new hope and opportunity.”
McCain’s two colleagues that accompanied her during her Utah visit were Barron Segar, president and CEO of World Food Program USA, and Lena Savelli, regional director of the U.N.’s World Food Programme in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Their visit to Utah landed approximately nine months after Elder Gérald Caussé of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles — then still serving as presiding bishop in the church’s Presiding Bishopric — visited the World Food Programme’s headquarters in Rome, Italy.
Reflecting on the church’s and World Food Programme’s 12-year collaboration, Segar said the number of lives that have been reached and impacted is “truly phenomenal.”
“Six million lives,” Segar said. “Six million human beings around this earth — our neighbors — have been impacted by the collaboration with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the World Food Programme.”
As many as 318 million people around the world currently face “acute levels of food insecurity,” the World Food Programme has reported. Since 2014, the church and World Food Programme have joined hands to accomplish “vital work in the areas of nutrition, school meals and logistics” in 49 countries, according to a church news release.
“We are grateful to serve alongside the World Food Programme in caring for God’s children and to follow his example of love and service,” said the church’s current Presiding Bishop W. Christopher Waddell. “This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to support the most vulnerable and strengthen both individuals and families around the world.”
McCain and her colleagues shared lunch with the church’s Presiding Bishopric and Relief Society general presidency at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, following their tour of the church’s humanitarian facilities.
Praising the World Food Programme for its global efforts, Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson said the church is inspired by the World Food Programme’s “dedication to strengthening families and communities,” as hunger affects mothers, children and families worldwide.
“We are grateful to collaborate with them in this work of compassion, dignity and hope,” President Johnson said.
Blaine Maxfield, managing director of the church’s Welfare and Self-Reliance Services, added that the collaboration’s effectiveness lies in a “shared focus on both immediate relief and lasting self‑reliance.”
“Whether through emergency food assistance or school meals that help children learn and thrive, (the church’s) work with the World Food Programme is about helping people move forward with confidence and opportunity,” he said.
McCain thanked the church and its leaders for their support and expressed enthusiasm for what lies ahead. “We look forward to continuing this vital work, side by side, bringing hope, opportunity and nourishment to communities around the world,” she said.
“Together, we will continue our shared mission to save lives and change (them).”
‘It’s marvelous to see the impact’
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, World Food Programme and World Food Program USA celebrated a 10-year service collaboration in 2024.
Representatives from each organization visited Liberia early that year to see and celebrate the impact World Food Programme was having there. A month later, the organizations engaged in a variety of projects, one of which funded an emergency response hub in Barbados.
During her recent Utah visit, McCain told church leaders that the hub proved useful late last year by accelerating the dispatch of emergency aid in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, a hurricane that struck Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica in late 2025.
Also as part of commemorating the organizations’ 10-year collaboration in 2024, the church and World Food Program USA joined more than 200 Latter-day Saint young adults to assemble more than 4,300 food boxes for food pantries along Utah’s Wasatch Front. The church also donated $8 million that year to support a home-grown school meals program in Haiti organized by the World Food Programme.
“It’s marvelous to see the impact we are having together,” McCain told church leaders as she described the impact the school meals program is having in Haiti. It’s marvelous “to see the communities making sure that the food is there and it’s cooked and it’s prepared and distributed to the children.”
The U.N.’s World Food Programme and World Food Program USA are only two of many organizations the church has built years-long relationships with to serve people worldwide. Find other reports highlighting the church’s humanitarian efforts here.
