About Us
The Liahona Children's Nutrition & Education Foundation is an enthusiastic, volunteer-run organization dedicated to providing nutrition supplements and education to malnourished and underweight LDS children and their friends. The Foundation currently focuses on children in Ecuador and Guatemala, distributing nutritional supplements through native coordinators in LDS stakes.
Our Mission
The mission of the Liahona Children's Nutrition and Education Foundation is to eliminate malnutrition and illiteracy/lack of elementary education among LDS children and their friends by working with LDS stakes to:
News
Our December 2011 newsletter is available here:
LCF 2011 Newsletter.pdf
We will have upcoming trips during the summer of 2012. More information will be available in the upcoming month. For questions, please contact us at info_liahonachildren.org.
By Common Consent (BCC) interviewed co-founder Brad Walker. To read the article, click here.
We are currently running projects in 7 stakes in Ecuador and Guatemala. Each stake has a coordinator that is running the project in their stake. The nutritional supplement that is used and the method of distribution is dependent on the unique characteristics of each stake.
Generally, coordinators distribute the nutritional supplements bi-monthly or monthly to the families of the children enrolled in the Foundation. Coordinators also teach the mothers basic nutrition information.
Please click on the links to the left to see what projects we have in Ecuador and Guatemala.
The need is great in many areas, and we are looking to expand this program to other stakes. Please see the Adopt-a-Stake page to see if your stake would be willing to fund and adopt a stake.
Program start: 2009
# kids on program: 120
# kids receiving education: 250
Nutritional supplement: Vitasoya
Distribution: Monthly at chapels
Malnutrition rate: 26%
Stunting rate: 56%
# kids on program: 200
Distribution: Bi-monthly to homes
Malnutrition rate: 17%
Stunting rate: 24%
Program start: 2008
# kids on program: 90
Distribution: Bi-monthly to homes and from chapels
Malnutrition rate: 18%
Stunting rate: 19%
The Salazars are the coordinators in Santo Domingo. They have two children and one grandchild. Both have held several callings in the church.
Guatemala has a population of 13,276,517. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints comprise 1.62% of the total population with 220,296 members. There are 38 stakes, 20 districts, 231 wards, 187 branches, 4 missions, and 1 temple.
On our initial trip to Guatemala, we screened 1,089 children, finding that 25% of them were malnourished and close to half of all children had significantly stunted growth.
We currently have 3 projects in Guatemala, including stakes in Momostenango, Patzicia, and Quetzaltenango. Previously, there was a project in the San Felipe stake.
# kids on program: 170
Nutritional supplement: Incaparina
Distribution: Bi-monthly to homes and from coordinator's home
Malnutrition rate: 33%
Stunting rate: 61%
Distribution: Monthly from coordinator's home
Malnutrition rate: 24%
Coordinator
I'm Sister Samayoa. My husband and I are organizing the program for the malnourished children using Incaparina, We've got everything organized and ready, my kids are also helping and well send a report as soon as possible. Thanks for the help to our kids, I hope you can keep helping, because they really need it.
This page is currently under construction.
Please check back soon.
Ecuador has a population of 14,573,000. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints comprise 1.27% of the total population with 190,500 members. There are 33 stakes, 10 districts, 212 wards, 82 branches, 3 missions, and 1 temple.
On our initial trip to Ecuador, we screened 1,093 children, finding that 20% of them were malnourished.
We currently have 4 projects in Ecuador, including stakes in Manta, Santo Domingo, and two stakes in Otavalo.
Stakes
Ecuador
Manta
Otavalo
Santo Domingo
Guatemala
Momostenango
Patzicia
Quetzaltenango
Adopt-a-Stake
Solola
Totonicapan
Puno
Cuzco
Quito
Our organization is 100% volunteer-run and we need your skills! Volunteering with the Liahona Childrens Foundation is an excellent way to provide much needed service while also developing your skill set and resume. We welcome short term volunteers, long term volunteers, and student interns.
Upcoming Trips
This summer we will be taking trips to Ecuador, Guatemala, and Peru to screen new areas and expand the program. If you are interested in being involved, please email us at liahonachildren_gmail.com.
Currently we need help in the following areas:
Fundraising
If you want to help launch some of our new fundraising efforts or have some ideas of your own to try out in your hometown, let us know.
Presentations
Do you have friends that are interested in our cause? If so, you could offer to give them a presentation about the foundation.
Research
Those who are curious about best practices in nutrition, government programs and funding, local cultures and food, or any other applicable subject, could provide great service in gathering the information that we need.
Media
Do you have a knack for putting together video clips or slideshows? An interest in social media? Do you have suggestions for jazzing up this website? If so, we need you!
Translation
Do you speak Spanish? If so, you can help us translate our correspondences with our coordinators, or help translate the website, training materials, or videos. What a great and meaningful way to brush up on your mission language.
Writing
Do you enjoy writing? If you have a way with words, you could help us with writing newsletters, manuals, and training materials. Or you can provide information about the foundation by blogging about us, writing articles, or creating handouts.
If you would like to contribute in any of the ways mentioned above, or have an idea of your own, please contact us! We'd love to talk about possibilities that wil meet your needs and be fulfilling to you. Join us!
We would love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact us with questions, comments, to get involved, to sign up for our newsletter, or for anything else!
You can also contact us at:
LCNEF
274 North 550 East
Lindon, UT 84042
Donate
It costs only $50 a year to provide nutrition to a malnourished child in an LDS stake in Ecuador, Guatemala, or Peru.
It costs $6000 a year to provide nutrition to the malnourished children of an entire LDS stake in Ecuador, Guatemala, or Peru.
Whether you are interested in our Adopt-a-Stake program to fund expansion to a new stake, or if you just want to contribute a few dollars to a family, we will gratefully apply your contribution to the children.
Have time and want to help? Check out our "Get Involved" tab for ideas of how you can be involved.
The Liahona Children's Nutrition and Education Foundation is a federally recognized non-profit 501(c)3, and all donations are tax deductible within the limits of the law.
You can feel confident in any donation you make to the Liahona Children's Nutrition & Education Foundation because every dollar you spend goes directly to the children. All overhead and operational costs are covered by the founders of the organization so that all donor contributions go directly to sustaining current nutrition programs and starting new ones.
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