Samaritan’s Purse: Help and hope for those in need
Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief organization delivering aid to people around the world, is the parent organization of World Medical Missions, the sponsor of the mission trips undertaken by Geisinger physicians Gary Russell, MD, and Susan Russell, MD. World Medical Missions is one of a range of humanitarian programs funded by Samaritan’s Purse, which operates from offices in Australia, Canada, the UK, and its U.S. headquarters in Boone, N.C.
A caring example
Bob Pierce, an evangelist, journalist and world traveler, founded Samaritan’s Purse in 1970, envisioning an organization that would follow the Biblical example of the Good Samaritan, who stopped to help a stranger in need. Mr. Pierce died in 1978, but his successor, Franklin Graham, has continued his mission, offering help and hope to victims of earthquakes, hurricanes, war and famine, including refugees and displaced persons around the world.
By amassing strategically located supplies of food, water, medicine, tents, blankets, tarps and other critical survival items, Samaritan’s Purse is able to quickly respond to humanitarian crises. Its disaster assistance response teams, made up of experienced relief professionals, are deployed quickly when disaster strikes. In the United States, Samaritan’s Purse provides emergency aid to victims of tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires and floods, often helping to rebuild homes of displaced residents. It has also established aid programs for wounded veterans.
Safer, healthier kids
Samaritan’s Purse offers programs like the Greta Home and Academy, an international orphanage; the Children’s Heart Project, which since 1997 has arranged lifesaving heart surgeries for more than 1,100 children around the world; and Operation Christmas Child, which organizes donations of toys and other gifts to needy children from thousands of volunteers around the world. Through such work, the organization demonstrates its dedication to making life safer and healthier for the world’s children.
