Samaritan's Purse

Facts

President & CEO

William “Franklin” Graham III, son of the late Billy Graham

Founded

1970, by Bob Pierce

Purpose

Samaritan's Purse is a nondenominational Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to victims of war, natural disasters, disease, famine, poverty, and persecution in more than 100 countries, with the purpose of sharing God's love through His son, Jesus Christ.

Budget

$994 million (2023)

Offices

With headquarters in Boone, North Carolina, Samaritan’s Purse has affiliate offices in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and Korea; field offices in 15 countries; and ministry partners in more than 100 countries.

Projects

• Crisis & Disaster Response

  International Relief

  Samaritan’s Purse specializes in meeting critical needs for victims of war, disaster, and famine in the world’s most troubled regions, often working through local churches and ministry partners.

  Since 2022, Samaritan's Purse has continued to respond in Ukraine to meet the physical and spiritual needs of suffering families impacted by violence. So far, Samaritan’s Purse distributed over 220 million pounds of food, provided 88 million liters of clean water, treated thousands of patients, and performed more than 250 surgeries. A country office was established in Ukraine in 2022 which currently has over 150 staff members working in the region.

  Additionally, the ministry deployed an Emergency Field Hospital to Turkey after the catastrophic earthquakes and a medical team that specializes in treating burn patients to Armenia after a deadly explosion. Samaritan’s Purse also served families impacted by Hurricane Otis in Mexico with clean water, food, shelter, and other essential items.

  The international Christian relief organization deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team to Israel in early October to support local municipalities and church partners with emergency food assistance. In addition to this, Samaritan’s Purse partnered with Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency services agency, to provide 22 ambulances.

  In 2023, Samaritan’s Purse airlifted more than 390 tons of cargo on its DC-8 and newly added 757 aircraft on 16 missions around the world. Since 2016, the DC-8 has flown more than 8 million pounds of cargo on 192 missions to 56 different countries.

  U.S. Disaster Relief

  Since 1998, when Samaritan’s Purse equipped its first semitractor-trailer Disaster Relief Unit, staff and volunteers have helped more than 73,600 families impacted by U.S. natural disasters. Now, eight Disaster Relief Units are strategically positioned across the country for rapid deployment in the wake of natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and floods. In 2023, Samaritan’s Purse responded to 27 disasters in 15 states, including Hurricane Idalia, wildfires, tornadoes, and floods.

• Health & Medical

  Emergency Field Hospital
  Ready to deploy at a moment’s notice, the Emergency Field Hospital provides medical relief in disaster-stricken areas where medical infrastructure is either damaged, overwhelmed, or nonexistent. Each unit is customizable depending on the needs of the response and can include an emergency room, two operating theaters, a critical care unit, and more than 50 inpatient beds. This resource has enabled Samaritan’s Purse medical staff to provide life-saving care to more than 60,000 patients. Most recently, it has helped provide emergency care in Turkey after catastrophic earthquakes rocked the region in early 2023.
  World Medical Mission
  Each year, World Medical Mission—the medical arm of Samaritan’s Purse—sends hundreds of doctors, dentists, and other medical professionals to 50 remote hospitals and clinics in the world’s least developed countries, both as short-term volunteers and through its Post-Residency Program. Since 1980, World Medical Mission has placed tens of thousands of volunteers across 82 countries.
  Children’s Heart Project
  This project brings children to North America and the Caribbean to receive life-saving surgery not available in their home countries. To date, Samaritan’s Purse has arranged surgery for more than 1,500 children with heart defects, in partnership with 81 hospitals.
  Cleft Lip and Palate Program
  In many countries around the world, individuals born with a cleft lip or palate are seen as cursed and immediately ostracized from their community or put at risk for health issues such as malnutrition. Since 2011, Samaritan’s Purse medical teams have provided life-changing cleft lip and palate surgeries for more than 1,706 individuals in South Sudan, Liberia, Bolivia, Guatemala, Myanmar, and Nepal.
  Cataract Program
  In 2017, Samaritan’s Purse created the Cataract Program to provide life-changing surgery for those experiencing impaired vision around the world. Thus far, more than 3,042 individuals have restored sight through the program in Liberia, Mexico, and South Sudan.
  Infectious Diseases
  Samaritan’s Purse has responded to coronavirus, Ebola, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, diphtheria, cholera, measles and other epidemic diseases through medical care, health services, hygiene projects, preventive education and compassionate care. In 2023, Samaritan’s Purse came alongside a partner hospital in Malawi to treat cholera while teams around the world launched public education campaigns focused on infection prevention and control. This year, Samaritan’s Purse established outbreak preparedness programming at multiple country offices in regions where cholera and measles are found.

Operation Christmas Child

The global project Operation Christmas Child uses gift-filled shoeboxes to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 220 million shoebox gifts to children in more than 170 countries and territories. In 2023, Samaritan’s Purse collected 11.3 million shoebox gifts globally.

Each year the project mobilizes more than 540,000 volunteers world-wide to collect, ship and distribute shoebox gifts. Since 2009, more than 40.5 million children who received a shoebox gift have participated in the follow-up program, The Greatest Journey. This 12-lesson discipleship program teaches children about God’s amazing love and guides them through what it means to faithfully follow Jesus Christ.

Operation Heal Our Patriots

This program is designed to strengthen the marriages of U.S. military veterans who have been wounded or injured since 9/11. The primary component of Operation Heal Our Patriots takes place at Samaritan Lodge Alaska, a wilderness retreat offering outdoor activities and Biblically based marriage enrichment classes. Since 2012, 1,725 couples have participated in the program.

Animals, Agriculture & Livelihoods

Samaritan’s Purse enables families in developing countries to meet their daily food and nutritional needs by providing seeds, tools, and livestock. Samaritan’s Purse also trains beneficiaries and communities to transition from subsistence living to sustainability.

Construction Projects

Samaritan’s Purse constructs houses, schools, hospitals, and churches for families and communities affected by disaster, poverty, and war. In 2023, over 6,000 institutions received infrastructure support around the world, and more than 21,000 temporary/transitional structures were set up to meet housing needs in Ukraine.

Feeding Programs

Samaritan’s Purse has specialized programs to treat severely malnourished children and runs large-scale distributions to feed victims of disaster, famine, and war. Over 335,000 hot meals were served across seven countries in 2023, and over 100,000 metric tons of food were provided for families in 10 countries.

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

In 2023, Samaritan’s Purse provided water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programming to vulnerable communities around the world. The ministry delivered over 55 million liters of clean water, distributed over 420,200 WASH items such as hygiene kits and household water filters, and trained over 154,000 people on best practices for sanitation and hygiene. These clean water programs provided safe drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people in impoverished communities, refugee camps and schools.

Women’s Programs

Samaritan’s Purse works to reach vulnerable women by meeting their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs through programs focused on maternal and child health, treatment and prevention of malnutrition, addressing gender-based violence, job skills training, education, and human trafficking prevention.

Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, is an international Christian relief and evangelism organization working in more than 100 countries to provide aid to victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine and persecution. For more information, visit SamaritansPurse.org.