World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain visited Salt Lake City on Friday, January 30, 2026, to get a firsthand look at the humanitarian efforts of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her visit to Utah comes nine months after Elder Gérald Caussé — at that time serving as Presiding Bishop of the Church — visited WFP headquarters in Rome.
“We deeply value our longstanding collaboration with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” said McCain, who toured both 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. 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 was joined by World Food Program USA President and CEO Barron Segar and WFP Latin America and Caribbean Regional Director Lena Savelli.
“The number of lives that have been reached through this collaboration is truly phenomenal,” Segar said. “Six million lives. 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. And we’ve done it in 49 different countries.”
More than 318 million people worldwide are facing crisis levels of hunger. Since 2014, WFP and the Church have accomplished vital work in the areas of nutrition, school meals and logistics. WFP’s programs provide immediate aid and build long-term resilience in vulnerable communities.
The year 2024 was a milestone for the collaboration between the Church, WFP and World Food Program USA. To mark 10 years of serving together, representatives from each organization visited Liberia to witness the fruits of what WFP is doing there. The next month, they engaged in a variety of projects. They funded an emergency response hub in Barbados. This hub accelerated response time in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa last year in Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica.
“The Church’s support of WFP’s new state-of-the-art logistics hub in Barbados has already saved lives,” said McCain. “When Hurricane Melissa struck Haiti, Cuba and Jamaica, together we immediately dispatched emergency aid to the hardest hit families. This critical infrastructure will serve the humanitarian community and people across the Caribbean for years to come.”
Also in February 2024, World Food Program USA and the Church joined more than 200 local young single adults to assemble over 4,300 food boxes for food pantries along Utah’s Wasatch Front. In September, the Church contributed $8 million to support the WFP’s homegrown school meals program in Haiti, where half of the population struggles to find enough to eat. McCain recently visited Haiti where she saw the impact of the school meals program firsthand.
“It’s marvelous to see the impact we are having together – to see the communities making sure that the food is there and it’s cooked and it’s prepared and distributed to the children,” McCain said.
These recent collaborations build on years of high-level engagement. In addition to Elder Caussé’s visit to WFP headquarters last year, Bishop L. Todd Budge of the Presiding Bishopric visited Rome in 2022 to present WFP with a substantial contribution on behalf of the Church — $32 million to address what WFP called a “seismic hunger crisis.”
After touring Welfare Square and the Bishops’ Central Storehouse, McCain and her WFP colleagues sat down to lunch at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building with the Presiding Bishopric and the Relief Society General Presidency. “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 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.”
Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson praised WFP’s vast global efforts to bring relief and light to those in need. “Around the world, hunger affects mothers, children and families in deeply personal ways,” President Johnson said. “We are inspired by the World Food Programme’s dedication to strengthening families and communities, and we are grateful to collaborate with them in this work of compassion, dignity and hope.”
Blaine Maxfield, managing director of the Church’s Welfare and Self-Reliance Services, said the collaboration with WFP is effective because of 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, our work with the World Food Programme is about helping people move forward with confidence and opportunity,” Maxfield said.
McCain thanked Church leaders for their continued support of WFP’s important work.
“We look forward to continuing this vital work, side by side, bringing hope, opportunity, and nourishment to communities around the world. Together, we will continue our shared mission to save lives and change lives.”
