As Hurricane Idalia barreled toward Florida’s Gulf Coast, Samaritan’s Purse U.S. Disaster Relief specialists prepositioned two Disaster Relief Units full of supplies in Georgia. The Category 3 hurricane soon made landfall on Wednesday morning, Aug. 30, near Keaton Beach in Florida’s Big Bend region with 125-mph winds and a record storm surge. The team prayed…
Crisis & Disaster Response
New Home Filled with Praises in Buncombe County
Ronnie and Ginny Meadows’ mobile home in western North Carolina, was washed away by Hurricane Helene. It was the only home they had lived in during their married life—49 years and still counting. “We’ve been flooded a hundred times,” Ronnie said, noting that their former home stood on the street where he grew up. “But…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Bringing Relief After Typhoon Rips the Philippines
A Samaritan’s Purse team in the Philippines is distributing emergency food packs and hygiene kits to families in need after Super Typhoon Mangkhut slammed into the Philippine island of Luzon on Sept. 15, the same weekend that Hurricane Florence hit the U.S. Carolina coast. The typhoon made landfall with winds up to 165 mph (equivalent…
Media
Press Release Western North Carolina Communities Rally to Give Back Through Samaritan’s Purse Project, Operation Christmas Child
Western North Carolina Communities Rally to Give Back Through Samaritan's Purse Project, Operation Christmas Child Hurricane Helene-Devastated Churches and Families Share the Joy of Christmas with Kids in Need Worldwide Boone, NC. Nov. 19, 2024—Every Christmas season, hundreds of thousands of Americans pack gift-filled shoeboxes for children in need around the world. Samaritan's Purse delivers…
Media
Press Release: Samaritan’s Purse Airlifts Relief Supplies and Disaster Response Team to Hard-Hit Jamaica
Samaritan’s Purse Airlifts Relief Supplies and Disaster Response Team to Hard-Hit Jamaica BOONE, N.C., Oct. 30, 2025—Less than 48 hours after Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, Samaritan’s Purse deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) along with more than 38,000 pounds of life-saving relief supplies to the island nation.…
Blue Ridge Resident Moves Into New Home
Joe Sherwood had never experienced a disaster like Hurricane Helene, which ripped up his hometown of Vilas, North Carolina –a small town tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The powerful storm left the home he had built over five decades earlier in ruins. What began as a peaceful morning playing checkers on his iPad…
Firefighter Receives Camper from Samaritan’s Purse
Howard and Lisa Ray’s mobile home was torn from its fastenings as several inches of water turned into a raging torrent in a matter of minutes, when Hurricane Helene swept through their Yancey County property in late September. Everything went by in a flash. Their home was bobbing through newly-formed rapids, and they surged forward…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Volunteers Doing the ‘Dirty Work’ to Help Ocracoke Island Homeowners
Philip Howard, 75, stood at his front door and watched as a wall of water from Pamlico Sound rushed down the road toward his house on Ocracoke Island. “The water just kept rising higher and higher and higher, and I thought if it breaches the top points of my fence then I’m going to have…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Congressional Delegation Visits Emergency Field Hospital in the Bahamas
Samaritan’s Purse continues serving hurting families one month after Hurricane Dorian’s devastating strike on the Bahamas. Our mobile Emergency Field Hospital in Freeport on Grand Bahama remains up and running as our team of medical specialists provides quality care for patients in desperate need. We have seen more than 2,700 patients since the hospital opened…
Franklin Graham
Newsletter December 2024
Franklin Graham Update | December Franklin Graham Update | December 'From Devastation To Celebration' Dear Friend, As Christmas approaches, we continue to see so much need all around us. Our disaster relief teams have served thousands of storm-stricken families. Meanwhile, we've been collecting and shipping Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts to millions of children worldwide. Hurricane Helene brought out the best in our…
