Gov. Mike Dunleavy accepted nearly 18,000 pounds of needed medical supplies from Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian ministry with a long history of serving rural Alaskans.
The donation arrived April 6 on a DC-8 aircraft from North Carolina that landed at Anchorage International Airport.
Dunleavy asked Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham – son of the late preacher Billy Graham – for the resources to help build the state’s medical stockpile. The cargo included medical beds, masks, gowns, and other medical supplies that are headed to eight rural Alaska communities.
“We want to thank them for their help and their work,” Dunleavy said.
Our ministry is all about Jesus — first, last, and always.
For more than 40 years, the international nondenominational Christian outreach has delivered food, medicine and other assistance to hurting communities.
“As our teams work in crisis areas of the world, people often ask, “Why did you come?” The answer is always the same: “We have come to help you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ,” the group’s website states. “Our ministry is all about Jesus — first, last, and always.”
Founded in 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine “with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ,” the website affirms.
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Samaritan’s Purse opened a 68-bed emergency field hospital in New York’s Central Park on April 1 to provide critical care for people seriously ill with the coronavirus. It opened a similar medical facility outside of Milan, Italy, in order to treat an overflow of coronavirus patients.
The ministry has a long history in rural Alaska, building churches, assisting with disaster relief efforts and operating an annual summer retreat for wounded veterans on Lake Clark.
Samaritan’s Purse requested that its Alaska donation go towards helping rural areas prepare for COVID-19 response efforts.
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium is helping to target communities where the supplies will be most needed.
