Mercy Corps History

Dan O'Neill, one of the founders of the Mercy Corp first started a campaign called "Save the Refugee Fund" in 1979. He collected over $1 million to help the refugees fleeing Cambodia. The program helped thousands of people fleeing the war and famine. In 1980, Dan O'Neill met Ellsworth Culver, who worked as Vice-President in Food for the Hungry organization. After about two years, both of them together started Mercy Corps in 1982.

Both of them shared a vision to help people in countries affected by natural disasters. They wanted to provide innovative solutions for the poor and develop their communities. This resulted in finding solutions to eradicate hunger and poverty. In 1984, Mercy Corps established its headquarters' in Portland, Oregon. In 1985, the company helped provide food to famine stricken countries like Sudan and Ethiopia. Mercy Corps also provided assistance to over 175,000 displaced people in the war torn countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Croatia.

In 1998, when Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras and Nicaragua, the company provided $3 million worth of goods to the affected families. In 1999, Mercy Corps helped in providing food and household supplies to over 350,000 people in Kosovo and Macedonia. Some of their recent assistances include helping people in Haiti and China, after massive earthquakes hit these countries. It has also offered help for people hit by war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Today, Mercy Corps helps over 16.7 million people across world and provides over $1.95 billion in relief assistance. They are instrumental in providing food, shelter, water, education, loans and health care to people across the world at the time of a disaster. They provide innovative ideas in different fields to help people earn a living. Mercy Corps is ranked as one of the most efficient charitable organizations in America. The contributions which are provided by numerous individuals and companies are utilized to build lives of millions people.

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