Samaritan’s Purse To Ship 90+ Tons Of Supplies To Japan

Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief organization, will send more than 90 tons of emergency supplies to Japan from Charlotte on Friday.

A team from the organization is already in Japan, delivering aid to victims of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the nation’s coast.

On Friday morning, the agency will load 92 tons of supplies onto a cargo jet at Charlotte Douglas International Airport that will head to Japan.

“I've led festivals through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Okinawa and Osaka and my father visited Japan six times during his ministry, so the first thing we did after the earthquake was to contact our church partners in Japan," said Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. “We provided money so that they could immediately start buying and distributing supplies to the victims of this disaster. But the need is so great that we also got right to work organizing this emergency airlift.”

The Samaritan's Purse airlift will include plastic sheeting for shelters, water filtration systems, blankets and hygiene supplies.

"You look at all of that rubble and you just wonder how many people are clinging to life waiting and hoping that someone will discover them -- and the many thousands of others who have lost everything in this disaster,” Graham said. “The people of Japan need our prayers, and they need our help.”