HPU Donates $100,000 to Samaritan’s Purse to Provide Support for Helene and Wildfire Relief
HIGH POINT, N.C., Jan. 16, 2025 – High Point University is donating $100,000 to Samaritan’s Purse to help the organization provide additional support to people who have been impacted by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina and the wildfires raging across Los Angeles, California.
HPU President Nido Qubein presented the donation to Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, during his visit to campus on Jan. 8. The gift is part of HPU’s larger commitment to assist people in need, including raising more than $33,000 for hurricane victims in North Carolina.
“High Point University attracts students from all 50 states, including North Carolina and California, and we pray for the safety of everyone impacted by these tragic wildfires and the hurricane,” Qubein said. “It is saddening to see the destruction, and HPU wanted to partner with Samaritan’s Purse to provide relief to people who have had their homes destroyed and lives uprooted.”
Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has provided spiritual and physical aid to people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease and famine across the globe. The Christian organization’s West Coast Ministry Center is based in Fullerton, California, a little more than 30 miles from the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles.
Samaritan’s Purse has already deployed crews to southern California and will soon begin sifting through the ashes there to help families search for precious belongings that may have survived.
“When there’s a fire, sometimes there are less than 15-20 minutes to evacuate — it’s not enough time to grab everything that’s important to you,” said Graham, the eldest son of American evangelist Billy Graham. “So many people have lost everything in this disaster, and we want to help them in their time of grief. When I recently visited President Qubein at High Point University, these fires were raging in California, and we decided this was the area of greatest need. I couldn’t be more grateful to HPU for this gift that will help us bring hope to southern California in Jesus’ Name.”
HPU students, faculty and staff have also raised a total of $33,400 so far for Hurricane Helene relief efforts. That amount includes a $10,000 donation from HPU’s Student Government Association to two North Carolina churches that are assisting hurricane victims — Harvest House Church in Boone and Haywood Street Congregation in Asheville. The HPU family has also donated thousands of bottles of water and hundreds of boxes of nonperishable food, diapers, cleaning supplies and dog and cat food.
Samaritan’s Purse has played a critical role in helping to rebuild western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene. An army of nearly 35,000 volunteers with the organization has assisted approximately 4,300 homeowners clear mud and debris from their houses and place tarps over portions of their roofs that were destroyed by the Category 4 storm.
In addition, Samaritan’s Purse has flown 385 air missions to deliver 700,000 pounds of supplies, marking the largest civilian airlift operation in U.S. history. The organization is planning to provide 1,000 new homes that are free of charge and fully furnished to people who lost their homes during the hurricane.
HPU honors and celebrates dozens of historical leaders who have improved the world by installing bronze sculptures in their likeness on campus as one of many ways to surround students with heroes, models and mentors. The Rev. Billy Graham is one of those historical figures, and his sculpture is located near HPU’s Hayworth Chapel.
