Samaritan's Purse is preparing for a major response to needy California residents in the wake of wild fires that have devastated the Los Angeles area.
"Right now we just have to wait till the fires are contained and are out before we can do anything," Rev. Franklin Graham, President and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, told Newsmax's "The Record With Greta Van Susteren."
Graham said his organization is already prepping teams of volunteers to help.
The fires have been the worst ever to hit the state of California. More than 12,000 homes and properties have been destroyed as hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.
Once the fires are out and contained, then it will take about two weeks for the first responders and police to canvass the homes, including removing victims' bodies, and "that takes time ... but as soon as they give us the all clear, we'll go in," said Graham.
The organization is accepting donations for its ministry work with the fires.
Newsmax has donated $100,000 to Samaritan’s Purse for its operations in California and has encouraged viewers to donate as well.
"Every single cent helps," said Van Susteren.
Donations can be made at Samaritan’s Purse Here Now .
Graham said that the first thing Samaritan’s Purse will do is offer homeowners assistance if they need it.
"Lots of times what they're looking for is valuables that may have survived the fire, maybe a wedding ring or something like that. And so we'll go in and we'll help sift through the ashes," he said.
"That takes a team of people to take one part of the house and sift through every square inch of the ashes that are on the ground."
"To be able to give something back to a homeowner — just even a little thing like a ring that survived — means so much to them," said Graham, adding that if the government allows, Samaritan's Purse will also help clear off the property and prepare it so homeowners can rebuild.
But the need is great after families evacuate for fires, said Graham.
"Even if they went and rented an apartment somewhere, there's no furniture," he said. "It's a tough deal for them. A lot of these people are in these evacuation centers, but they're not going to make it."
Chaplains from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association who will go pray and listen to people tell their stories are also on site, Graham added.
"This is the most traumatic, probably, event in their life," he said.
"They want to tell their story. The chaplains will just listen and we'll pray with them and try to encourage them and let them know that God hasn't turned his back on them, that God loves them and cares for them. It's a very important ministry just to help them emotionally and spiritually with these chaplains that have been trained for this type of crisis."
Samaritan's Purse has a long history of emergency response in crisis.
In October, the organization played a leading role offering emergency assistance across North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
And over a year ago Graham noted his group started their assistance in Hawaii after fire devastated thousands of homes.
"[In] Lahaina, we've just been allowed just this year to go in and start the rebuilds, so it was a long process out there," said Graham. "We're in there doing rebuilds right now and it's just incredible."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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