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Dr. Phil Says Samaritan's Purse Relief Effort in N.C. Is ‘America at its Best’

Michael Foust

Author and famed television personality Dr. Phil McGraw is praising the efforts of Samaritan's Purse and other private organizations for stepping up to aid the people of western North Carolina, noting that they mobilized swiftly before government assistance arrived. It is, he said, "America at its best." 

McGraw, known as "Dr. Phil" for his television series, has posted multiple videos on his social media channels that were recorded from the site of the devastated region, where countless communities are cut off from the outside world due to washed-out roads and downed power lines from Hurricane Helene flooding. Many still have no electricity, water, or cell service. 

"All these orange shirts you see around and behind me are Samaritan's Purse," McGraw said on one video, recorded in the flooded basement of a home. McGraw worked alongside Samaritan's Purse.

"Let me tell you, these guys don't have meetings to fill out forms, to plan a meeting, to get something going. They have verbs in their sentences. They have springs in their step, and they're out making things happen. FEMA, all these other people are talking, thinking, no, not Samaritan's Purse. They're out doing things."

Samaritan's Purse is a Christian relief organization headed by Franklin Graham. Its relief crews are in six states hit by Helene, including North Carolina. 

Samaritan's Purse is coordinating airlifts to many of the locations in North Carolina and East Tennessee. 

Western North Carolina, McGraw said, has been largely forgotten by the rest of the country. 

"People in other parts of the country are living their lives because this is out of sight, out of mind," McGraw said. "I don't want it to be. …They need us. They need our help. They need our support."

McGraw, though, said he's been encouraged by the neighborly love in the region. He spoke with hundreds of people throughout the mountainous towns that are "completely cut off from civilization." 

"They have no power -- not going to have any for four to six months," he said. "We've flown in, taken them generators, food, water, supplies. [I] didn't hear one person talk about being a victim. Didn't hear one person talk about whether the people they were helping as neighbors or being helped by neighbors were Democrats or Republicans. Didn't care about pronouns, didn't care about politics, didn't care about anything. All they cared about was that they were all Americans. Their neighbors needed help, and they were giving it. They needed help and they were accepting it. 

"Man, what a lesson about what life's about. How uplifting it was to see the spirit of these people. What a lesson in the face of disaster, in the face of losing everything. I'm really tired but so inspired by the hardened strength of these people. America at its Best."

Graham, on Sunday, said Samaritan's Purse had completed 67 helicopter missions to "deliver water, food, blankets, generators, fuel, medicines, and much more" to hurricane victims.

"Thank you to all who have prayed and given support," Graham said. "Neighbor helping neighbor continues—in Jesus' Name!"

Photo Credit: ©X/Dr. Phil

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.