In its Christmas Eve 2007 issue, USA Today promoted 25 charities “representing a broad range of interests including environment, health, animals, arts, education, human services and public benefits.”¹ None was explicitly Christian; there was no Salvation Army or Samaritan’s Purse on the list. But background checks on their histories show many Christian links and influences, salt and light at work—natural behavior for the Lord’s “Good Samaritan” people.

1. Big Brothers Big Sisters: In 1902, Ernest Coulter launched Big Brothers with a speech to the Men’s Club of the Central Presbyterian Church of New York.² Subsequently, Catholic Big Sisters merged with Big Brothers to make it coed.³

2. Earth Day Network: The founder of Earth Day in 1970, Wisconsin’s Senator Gaylord Nelson, was not particularly religious. Nevertheless, in a university address on the project, he recognized the environmentalist influence of St. Francis of Assisi.⁴

3. The Humane Society of the United States: Henry Berg, the 1954 founder, was Unitarian, but his society drew from the 19th-century, British, anti-cruelty movement, advanced by William Wilberforce and such clergymen as Humphrey Primatt and Arthur Broome.⁵

4. America’s Second Harvest: Moving from Wisconsin to Arizona for his health, John van Hengel began reading his Bible, swimming laps at the YMCA, and helping with a local soup kitchen. Though down and out, and wearing Salvation Army handouts, he founded the nation’s first food bank with the help of Phoenix’s St. Mary’s Basilica.⁶

5. Special Olympics: With the support of the Kennedy Foundation and the Chicago Park District, Anne Burke started the Special Olympics in 1968.⁷ A member of St. Simon the Apostle Church, Burke has received honorary degrees from four Catholic universities, including DePaul and Holy Cross.

6. Susan G. Komen for the Cure: Nancy Brinker, a charismatic Catholic, is president of this organization devoted to curing breast cancer, which claimed her sister Susan.⁸ In 2002, Brinker received the Sword of Loyola award⁹ for service “to humankind for the greater glory of God.”¹⁰

7. Habitat for Humanity International: Former Disciples of Christ missionary Millard Fuller established this housing-for-the-poor ministry on a concept gained from Koinonia Farm,¹¹ whose founder, Clarence Jordan, earned a Ph.D. at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.¹²

8. Ducks Unlimited: Joseph Knapp, founder of this wetlands conservancy,¹³ was the son of Phoebe Knapp, who wrote the music to “Blessed Assurance,” whose words were penned by Fanny Crosby. All three attended New York’s John Street Methodist Church.¹⁴

9. Goodwill Industries International: Founded in Boston in 1902 by Methodist minister Edgar J. Helms, the motto for this employment ministry is “A hand up, not a hand out.”¹⁵

10. American Red Cross: Founder and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Henry Dunant came from “a devout and charitable Calvinist family” in Geneva¹⁶ and once worked full time for the YMCA.¹⁷

Christian connections everywhere, not to mention the Christian atmosphere within which all 25 thrived.

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