Operation Blessing International

Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation (OB) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) humanitarian organization founded in the United States. Beginning in 1978, OBI has worked in more than 90 countries and throughout the U.S. Implementing programs that provide disaster relief, medical aid, clean water, hunger relief, community development and orphan care. Operation Blessing is governed by a national board of directors.

Operation Blessing
Founded1978
TypeNon-Government Organization
FocusDisaster Relief & Development
Location
Area served
90 countries
MethodDirect Aid / Program Funding
Key people
Gordon Robertson (President)
Revenue
USD $276,804,696 (2018)[1]
Websitewww.ob.org

History

Operation Blessing was founded on November 14, 1978 by businessman and televangelist Pat Robertson to help struggling individuals and families by matching their needs for items such as clothing, appliances, and vehicles with donated items from viewers of The 700 Club, Robertson's daily television program. Coordinating with local churches and other organizations, OBI expanded their matching funds program to include food provisions and financial assistance for low-income families. In 1990, Operation Blessing began transitioning from individual assistance to helping fund outreach centers across the U.S. who partner with local ministries, food pantries, and shelters. Internationally, OBI has continued to expand its medical, hunger and disaster relief efforts and, in 1986, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.[2]

Activities
A team from Operation Blessing assisting a homeowner in Port Charlotte, Florida after Hurricane Ian.

According to their website, Operation Blessing's mission is "to demonstrate God's love by alleviating human need and suffering in the United States and around the world."[3] Operation Blessing operates in dozens of countries around the world, implementing programs that provide strategic disaster relief, medical aid, hunger relief, clean water and community development.[4]

Disaster relief

Specializing in disaster relief, Operation Blessing has been involved in domestic relief work for victims of severe flooding in Nebraska, tornadoes in Mississippi, and hurricanes Michael and Florence in Florida and North Carolina. Internationally, Operation Blessing helps victims of the humanitarian crises in Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, and Kenya.

In the wake of a devastating outbreak of the Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean, Operation Blessing employed juvenile turtles, fish and copepods to eat mosquito larvae before the insects can spread the virus.[5] Operation Blessing fights the spread of Zika through education, mosquito nets and insect repellent to protect the most vulnerable, especially pregnant women and their unborn children.[6]

Operation Blessing has provided relief during multiple natural disasters, including in the aftermath of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake,[7] the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami,[8] and the 2010 Haiti earthquake and accompanying cholera outbreak.[9]

Operation Blessing's relief and recovery efforts have not be limited to natural disasters, and they have also responded to humanitarian crises arising from conflict in Iraq, Syria, Israel, South Sudan, Mali, Somalia,[10] and Lebanon.[11]

Medical aid

Internationally, Operation Blessing medical teams offer free medical care (general medical, optical, dental and surgical services) and medicine to impoverished families, many of whom cannot afford such treatment or live in rural areas without regular access to health clinics. They are also developing teams of community health workers to help prevent and detect illnesses and diseases in rural villages. These efforts have included distributing insecticide-treated bed nets for children and pregnant women to reduce the spread of malaria by mosquitos. The organization offers surgeries for treatable conditions such as heart defects, cleft lips, clubfoot and more, often through crowd-funded initiatives.[12]`

Clean water

Operation Blessing teams develop a variety of clean water systems in impoverished communities to provide villagers with an accessible clean water source, preventing many water-borne diseases and reducing the amount of time women and children spend collecting water. In high altitude areas they often utilize cisterns installed by Operation Blessing to collect and store rainwater. Operation Blessing also installs large water purification systems that purify up to 10,000 US gallons (38,000 L; 8,300 imp gal) of water a day, used during disasters or for high volume areas like hospitals.[13]

Operation Blessing also manufactures chlorine to disinfect water supplies for hospitals, including the largest hospital in Juba, South Sudan. Chlorine production has aided the effort to fight Ebola in Liberia. In several developing countries, Operation Blessing distributes PackH2O water backpacks, installs rural community water systems, and even uses desalination technology to turn seawater into drinking water.

Hunger relief

In the United States, Operation Blessing's Hunger Strike Force trucks deliver an average of almost 2 million pounds (910 tonnes) of food and product each week to local ministries, food pantries, shelters, and more across America.[14] Internationally, Operation Blessing's food distributions help to fight hunger and reduce malnutrition by providing emergency food relief to children and families in crisis. Food security efforts like agricultural initiatives, skills training, and small business opportunities work to establish long-term hunger relief in areas affected by drought, famine and poverty.[15]

Microenterprise


Through loans, Operation blessing has funded microenterprise projects in developing countries like Honduras, the Philippines, Peru and India, aiming to equip men and women with marketable job skills and the resources needed to open small businesses. These projects have included providing training courses in skills such as jewellery making and baking, as well as community development initiatives such as vegetable gardens and sewing centers.[16]

Partnerships

Operation Blessing has partnered with numerous other organizations and nonprofits, including Mayo Clinic of Minnesota, International Justice Mission, Free Wheelchair Mission, and Tide Loads of Hope. OBI also conducted annual food distributions with professional sports teams such as the Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals,[17] Washington Redskins, and Jacksonville Jaguars.[18]

Affiliation

Operation Blessing is a member of the Association of Evangelical Relief and Development Organizations (AERDO)[19] and is registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)[20] and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).[21] OBI is also a national member of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD), Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), Christian Service Charities, Christian Service Organizations of America (CSOA), the Global Compassion Network, the Virginia Trucking Association, and the American Trucking Associations (ATA).[22]

Financial accountability

Operation Blessing is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), and is audited annually by KPMG, LLP.

Controversy
See also: Pat Robertson controversies

After making emotional pleas in 1994 on The 700 Club for cash donations to Operation Blessing to support airlifts of refugees from Rwanda to Zaire, it was later discovered, by a reporter from The Virginian-Pilot, that Operation Blessing's planes were transporting diamond-mining equipment for the Robertson-owned African Development Corporation, a venture Robertson had established in cooperation with Zaire's dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, whom Robertson had befriended earlier in 1993.[23][24] According to Operation Blessing documents, Robertson personally owned the planes used for Operation Blessing airlifts.[25]

Robertson continues to state that Operation Blessing was largely responsible for providing aid to Rwanda following the 1994 genocide, even after an official investigation into Operation Blessing described it as a "fraudulent and deceptive" operation that provided almost no aid. A 1999 report concluded that, whilst Robertson's request for donations to Operation Blessing had been misleading, they were not an intentional attempt to commit fraud.[26] A September 2013 article in The Guardian stated that all Operation Blessing volunteers did was recite Bible passages at dying refugees. Robertson was accused of taking credit for work that was actually done by Médecins Sans Frontières.[23]

In December 2013, The Guardian issued an apology to Operation Blessing, retracting many of their accusations, acknowledging that they had not mentioned a further report that cleared Operation Blessing of any wrongdoing, and agreeing to make a donation to Operation Blessing's "relief efforts for victims of the typhoon in the Philippines."[27]

References
  1. Operation Blessing International. "BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2018 annual report" (PDF).
  2. "Our History". Operation Blessing. Archived from the original on 2012-05-09. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  3. "About Us". 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-28.
  4. "Global Impact". Operation Blessing. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  5. "Mosquito-eating fish used to fight Zika virus in Latin America". USA Today. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  6. "Operation Blessing launches effort to combat Zika virus in El Salvador, Haiti". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  7. "Operation Blessing delivers food, supplies to Nepal". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2015-05-07.
  8. "New fishing fleet signifies progress in Japan". NBC. Archived from the original (Video) on 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  9. "Cholera in Haiti: a view from a first responder". CNN. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  10. Darg, David (2007-01-27). "Somalia dispatch: Delivering relief in a lawless land". AlertNet. Reuters. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  11. King, Lawrence ‘Larry’ (2007-08-09). "Live" (Transcript). CNN. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  12. "Medical Aid". Operation Blessing. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
  13. "Clean Water". Operation Blessing. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  14. "Annual Report" (PDF). Operation Blessing. 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  15. "Hunger Relief". Operation Blessing. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  16. "Microenterprise". Operation Blessing. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  17. "Chiefs & Royals Help Feed Kansas City". Kansas City: Chiefs. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  18. "Annual Report" (PDF). Operation Blessing. 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  19. "Member Organizations". AERDO. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-07-20. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  20. "Thousands of Volunteers Embark On Massive Gutting in Orleans Parish". FEMA. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-03-08. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  21. "Ocean Freight Reimbursement Success Stories". USAID. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-08-16. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  22. "Affiliations". About. Operation Blessing. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
  23. "Mission Congo: how Pat Robertson raised millions on the back of a non-existent aid project". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2013-09-14. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  24. "Mission Congo - Toronto Film Festival". Toronto Film Festival. Archived from the original on September 4, 2013. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  25. "OBI Responds to Malicious Mission Congo Allegations". Operation Blessing. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  26. "Guardian Newspaper Apologizes". The Christian Post. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  27. "Corrections and clarifications". The Guardian. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
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