Elizabeth Groff is on a special journey to help pack the 200 millionth Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift since the Samaritan’s Purse project began in 1993. Elizabeth, who received a shoebox gift years ago as a lonely child in an orphanage in Ukraine, is currently traveling to different U.S. drop-off locations and processing centers with…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Pack Animals Gifted to Carolina Organization Helping with Helene Relief
A February storm had softened the ground considerably and loosened the roots on an old poplar tree. Wind gusts finished it off. Mike and Michele Toberer were hours out of town when the timber fell and broke a large opening into a fence holding their mules. Three of them escaped into the highway. “That was…
Crisis & Disaster Response
On the Road in Jesus’ Name
Jesus’ words inspired cross-country bicyclist Daniel Erickson: “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29, NKJV). Two years ago, Daniel said, “I started feeling like I should step out…
Media
Press Release Texas Flood 09-23-19
U.S. Disaster Relief Teams On the Way: Samaritan's Purse to Aid Texas Flood Victims BOONE, N.C., Sept., 23, 2019 Disaster Response Specialists and Teams of Volunteers Bringing Relief to Tropical Storm Imelda Survivors Samaritan's Purse is responding in southeast Texas after Tropical Storm Imelda caused deadly flooding, displacing hundreds of families. Disaster response specialists and…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Team Patriot Gets Wounded Veterans Serving Again
U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Brandon Price was performing a routine training session with the Afghan Army when his students suddenly turned on him and ambushed him and his squadron with gunfire. Brandon took two bullets to the chest plate and one to his leg, and as he was being treated by a medic, a remote-powered…
Operation Christmas Child
Hundreds of Children in the Bahamas Receive Shoebox Gifts at Christmastime
Hundreds of boys and girls received gifts and learned about the hope of the Gospel during a series of Operation Christmas Child shoebox distributions on the island of Grand Bahama, Dec. 27-28. The celebration was a welcome time of joy for the children as the island continues to recover from Hurricane Dorian. Local church partners…
Operation Christmas Child
God Is Using a Small Texas Church to Bless Many Thousands of Children
Update (Nov. 4, 2021): Since this article was originally published, Grace Baptist Church of Wild Peach, Texas, has continued to exceed its shoebox-packing goals. In 2020, despite the global outbreak of COVID-19, the church packed 12,617 shoeboxes—117 over their goal. They also saw God’s provision regarding their $9 donation per shoebox gift that year. “We…
Construction Projects
Samaritan’s Purse Helps Homeowners Rebuild in Eastern Carolinas
As Hurricane Florence passed through New Bern, North Carolina, lightning struck a large pine tree in Kenyatta James’ front yard. The splintered tree fell diagonally across her house, which the family had evacuated in advance of the storm. The fallen timber left the James’ home severely damaged and allowed torrential rain inside as the storm…
Crisis & Disaster Response
College Students Head South to Serve Over Spring Break
Instead of heading to the beach in shorts and flip-flops, University of Connecticut students spent their spring break in Waynesville, North Carolina, donning work clothes and orange U.S. Disaster Relief T-shirts. They were rebuilding a home damaged by Hurricane Helene. “I wanted to do something that was productive and that was contributing to the Kingdom…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Rebuilding in Tennessee
Samaritan’s Purse has started rebuilding homes that were lost to Hurricane Helene, including one for Kim Mitchum in Mountain City, Tennessee. The September 2024 storm flooded Mitchum’s home—damaging her belongings and leaving her with a black mold infestation that could not be stopped. When our U.S. Disaster Relief teams came to her aid with the…
