MURRAY, Utah — The Church's newest and largest Deseret Industries Thrift Store is an important component in the tool bag used by bishops and stake presidents in helping and assisting those in need, said Presiding Bishop H. David Burton Aug. 22.

"This store tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. will join nearly 50 other stores in the western United States and will take its place as a sentinel in the program of assisting the poor and the needy," said Bishop Burton, before dedicating the new facility here.

The old store on the site, located at 4500 South near State Street in Murray, Utah, was demolished and rebuilt from the ground up. The new 53,000 square-foot building will serve as a training facility to more than 200 individuals each year.

As the largest Deseret Industries Thrift Store, the Murray unit includes a humanitarian service room and will provide thousands of pounds of clothing each year to the Church Humanitarian Center for international distribution. In addition, the store — through a community partnership program — will assist 26 charitable agencies in the Salt Lake area, including Jewish Family Services, shelters for battered women, Catholic Community Services, and the Salt Lake County Jail.

Before dedicating the new building as a "sanctuary for those that stand in need," Bishop Burton made reference to an arrangement of sunflowers near the pulpit. Sunflowers, he said, follow the sun. "What we do in assisting those that are less fortunate — we are following the Son, the Son of God, and His precepts in seeking out and assisting the poor."

In fact, Bishop Burton said, he had spent the day with that objective in mind.

"It has been a busy day, as it relates to items of welfare," he said.

At noon, he was in the Utah Governor's Mansion, along with community leaders, celebrating a fund-raising program to help build homes for 240 homeless families in the community.

In addition, he said, he and his colleagues had spent most of the day "worrying about airplanes," or specifically about the 747 the Church filled with medical supplies, food and hygiene kits that experienced mechanical problems en route to aid earthquake victims in Peru.

Finally, he said, he had spent time during the day monitoring a hurricane that hit Jamaica and was headed towards the Gulf Coast. A plane filled with emergency goods was set to leave Florida for Jamaica the following morning, he said.

"When those types of disasters take place, telephones at Church headquarters ring off the hook," said Bishop Burton. "We are grateful for the opportunity for gathering as a body of saints the necessary wherewithal to lend aid to those kinds of stressful situations that arise around the world. We are grateful for the many Latter-day Saints and others that want to reach out and help."

Deseret Industries, he continued, is an important way to offer help.

Deseret Industries originated toward the end of the Depression in August 1938, in an "effort to provide opportunities for individuals to become self-sustaining."

A letter from the First Presidency was read Aug. 14, 1938, in sacrament meetings throughout the Salt Lake region, calling for contributions of "clothing, papers, magazines, articles of furniture, electrical fixtures, metal and glassware." The store would then employ men and women to sort, process, and repair the articles collected for sale and distribution among those who desire to obtain usable articles at a minimum cost, according to the letter.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Deseret Industries stores also began to emphasize rehabilitation, helping to train people with disabilities and others in need of vocational skills.

Rich McKenna, director of Church Humanitarian Services, said the real story of what happens at a Deseret Industries today is the training.

E-mail to: sarah@desnews.com

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