LDS Church supplies being distributed in fire-stricken California

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has sent four truckloads of relief supplies — including food, water, blankets, cots and hygiene kits — to help some of the more than 400,000 Southern California residents forced to evacuate their homes due to raging wildfires.

The first church shipments were distributed on Monday evening and this morning to evacuees in Qualcomm Stadium, where 30,000 evacuees were reported to be staying. Two additional shipments are en route to the Del Mar Fairgrounds and other evacuee shelters. Full-time LDS missionaries are providing assistance at several evacuee locations and distributing church relief supplies.

All LDS missionaries are safe and 12 LDS meetinghouses are being used temporary shelters for evacuees. In several locations, occupants have been moved from one meetinghouse to another as mandatory evacuation areas have expanded.

According to a Church Welfare report, at least 26 homes of LDS Church members in southern California have been destroyed by the fires this week.