Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation (OB) is a non-profit 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.
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.
Activities
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." 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.
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 an 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 could spread the virus. 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.
Operation Blessing has provided relief during multiple natural disasters, including in the aftermath of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake, the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake and accompanying cholera outbreak.
Operation Blessing's relief and recovery efforts have not been limited to natural disasters, and they have also responded to humanitarian crises arising from conflict in Iraq, Syria, Israel, South Sudan, Mali, Somalia, and Lebanon.
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.`
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 of water a day, used during disasters or for high volume areas like hospitals.
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.