The Samaritan Bags program partners churches and community organizations to pack bags with non-perishable food and personal care items. These bags can be donated outright to organizations like homeless shelters or rescue missions, or can be carried around in volunteers cars for chance encounters.
Our Mission
To increase unity within the Body of Christ by providing a tangible service ministry wherein the Church can come together to meet the needs of those in need.
Our Vision
A Church united in service to each other and the world, striving to meet the needs of the most vulnerable within their communities.
Who We Are
The Samaritan Bags project is an initiative by The Christian Chain to meet the needs of vulnerable individuals around Phoenix and throughout the United States. Christopher Warrington, a minister and CEO of The Christian Chain, felt a calling from the Holy Spirit to meet the needs of the homeless community, and Samaritan Bags was born.
The Need
Homelessness stems from any number of problems – lack of mental and physical healthcare, lack of access to affordable housing, and program shifts from shelters to housing programs. On a given night in Maricopa County, there are over 6,600 homeless either sleeping on the streets or in shelters. Given the current health crisis sparked by COVID-19, there are real concerns that this number will climb in 2020.
Often, the average person does not give to the homeless they encounter by chance, either because they are not prepared and cannot give them anything, or out of concern that money given may be used for things other than necessities.
What We Do
The Samaritan Bags program partners churches and community organizations to pack bags with non-perishable food and personal care items. These bags can be donated outright to organizations like homeless shelters or rescue missions, or can be carried around in volunteers’ cars in readiness for chance encounters.
Like the Samaritan in the parable, we should always be prepared to help those in need, no matter our differences and no matter their current living situation.
What’s different about Samaritan Bags is that in addition to personal care and non-perishable items being on-hand, we also seek to address their eternal needs by providing an outreach bible. We also encourage packers to provide information on local health and housing resources, and churches to connect them to ongoing care.
Our goal is to provide community help for those in need by addressing their immediate, continued, and eternal needs.
Information for Churches
Are you looking for your congregation or small groups to come together to help your community? Click Here
Email Support
Email any questions to support@samaritanbags.com
Thinking Bigger?
If you are wanting to do a packing event on a larger scale than you are seeing here, click here and we can help customize your own shopping cart.