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
$1.06 billion (2024)
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 remained committed to meeting the physical and spiritual needs of suffering families impacted by violence in Ukraine. So far, Samaritan’s Purse distributed over 265 million pounds of food, provided 118 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. In 2024, the ministry distributed more than 1 million Bibles to Ukrainian families to share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, along with providing routine medical and dental care.
Additionally, the ministry deployed aid to Brazil for catastrophic flooding, the Windward Islands after record-breaking Hurricane Beryl tore through, and Vietnam after Typhoon Yagi made landfall. When Hurricane Helene devastated the southeast, our international relief team provided support for our domestic relief efforts to meet life-saving needs, including launching what became the largest civilian airlift operation in U.S. history.
The international Christian relief organization continues to meet needs to people on both sides of the Israel-Hamas war. Early on, the organization provided emergency food assistance to local municipalities and church partners. Samaritan’s Purse continues to partner with Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency services agency, to provide 14 standard ambulances and an additional 28 armored ambulances. Most recently, the ministry is undertaking 6 major construction projects including medical and health centers in the region.
In 2024, Samaritan’s Purse airlifted more than 260 tons of cargo on its DC-8 and newly added 757 aircraft on 9 missions around the world. Since 2016, the DC-8 has flown more than 8.2 million pounds of cargo on 198 missions to 42 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 86,000 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 2024, Samaritan’s Purse responded to 32 disasters in 15 states, including Hurricane Helene, 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. In 2024, after Hurricane Beryl struck the Windward Islands, an Emergency Field Hospital was deployed to Grenada to treat hundreds of patients. Another Emergency Field Hospital was deployed to western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene to provide surge capacity for a local hospital in one of the hardest-hit areas.
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 45 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 1,600 children with heart defects, in partnership with 85 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 2,174 individuals in South Sudan, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 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 8,272 individuals have restored sight through the program in Liberia, Cambodia, the Democratic Rpublic of the Congo, 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.
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 232 million shoebox gifts to children in more than 170 countries and territories. In 2024, Samaritan’s Purse collected 11.9 million shoebox gifts globally.
Each year the project mobilizes more than 519,000 volunteers world-wide to collect, ship and distribute shoebox gifts. Since 2009, more than 46 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, more than 1,900 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 2024, Samaritan’s Purse shifted its disaster relief efforts following Hurricane Helene to focus on rebuilding hundreds of homes, bridges, and critical infrastructure for families in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. Additionally, the organization is undertaking six major construction projects in Israel in response to the deadly terrorist attack of October 2023. These projects include two Emergency Medical Service stations, two Resilience Centers, an Equine Therapy Center, and a Women’s Health Center—supporting families recovering from the devastation while strengthening vulnerable communities against future threats.
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 735,000 hot meals were served across five countries in 2024, and over 68,000 metric tons of food were provided for families in 11 countries.
Water, Sanitation & Hygiene
In 2024, 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 163,000 WASH items such as hygiene kits and household water filters, and trained over 174,000 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.
