By Karen Vance
Enquirer contributor

OVER-THE-RHINE - When Tim Guffey and about 8,000 other Cincinnati-area members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fast for 24 hours on the first Sunday of every month, it's about more than the spirit.

"In the life of the Savior, Jesus Christ, he fasted. It's a way of turning your focus inward and thinking about your life. And then we donate what we would have spent on food for our family to the church," said Guffey, a councilor in the Northern Metropolitan Cincinnati Stake of the church. A second stake, or subdivision in the church organization, represents the rest of the city.

This holiday season those stakes will provide about $500 worth of food from a Columbus storehouse operated by the church to the City Gospel Mission in Over-the-Rhine.

"When someone comes to us for help, we expect them to be involved in doing things in return, providing service to other people," Guffey said.

That same commitment to helping people help themselves has drawn the church to the mission, which operates a men's shelter, a rehabilitation center, a center for homeless men, a soup kitchen and a food pantry.

"We really want to see people grow; we want to see their lives change," said Ed Perrine, director of the mission. "If we do it for you all the time, all we do is strip you of your dignity and make you dependent on us."

Year round, churches provide assistance to any number of individuals and organizations. For example, in the West Chester area, the churches give monthly from their welfare collection to the Reach Out Lakota program, which provides food and clothing to people.

In addition to local causes, the church's 11.8 million members worldwide support Church Welfare Services, LDS Family Services, welfare missionaries in 55 countries, and disaster relief. The church is working in Ethiopia to provide drought relief.

"Our welfare system, from beginning to end, is about self-sufficiency, sacrifice and helping people to help themselves," Guffey said.

Holocaust exhibit open

A quarter of the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust were under 15 years old. The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education at Hebrew Union College is hosting a traveling exhibit devoted to those children's experiences.

"No Child's Play: Children in the Holocaust, Creativity and Play," created by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Heroes' and Martyr's Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem, will be on display in the Mayerson Hall Lobby through Jan. 31.

The exhibit, as well as "Mapping Our Tears," a theater plotting the journey of refugees, survivors, liberators and rescuers from the Greater Cincinnati area, is free and open to the public.

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To submit religion news, e-mail kvance@fuse.net or send a fax to 755-4150.