WASHINGTON, DC - USCCB Migration & Refugee Services has received a large charitable donation from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), to further efforts assisting refugees.

The gift of $1.25 million -in cash and donated food and goods -will be used to directly assist newly-arrived refugees via 80 affiliated diocesan resettlement offices throughout the country. A direct response to the ongoing and unprecedented global refugee crisis, the donation will help with both welcoming refugees and assisting them to begin to build new lives in our country.

"We are grateful for the ongoing relationships we have with people of faith for the opportunities it provides to assist in one of the fundamental principles of the gospel - caring for those that may feel like strangers among us," said Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric of the LDS Church. "This includes those who have been driven from their homes and find themselves in new and unfamiliar circumstances. This donation today is part of our ongoing relationship with the USCCB and our collective resolve to follow Jesus Christ and assist in bettering the lives of refugees."

Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, auxiliary bishop of Seattle and chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, responded, "I am extremely grateful that Bishop Waddell and the LDS Church chose to support Migration & Refugee Services in this way. Together, as people of faith, we know that refugees desperately need our help -and this generosity allows us to serve many more."

Migration & Refugee Services represents the bishops' interests in policy formulation, communication, advocacy, education, and other specialized services to at-risk and vulnerable migrant populations, including immigrants, refugees, victims of human trafficking, and unaccompanied minors.