30 Large

I’ve been with International Samaritan for six years now, or a mere 20% of our history, and I want to share with you 30 reasons that make this 30-year-old organization the most exceptional investment you can make in others. Here they are, and they are large!

1. Our Christ-Centered Calling. From our teams around the world to our supporters around America, we share a bond of answering that still, small voice that guides us in our efforts to love God and to love our neighbor.

2. Our Scholars’ Commitment. The young people we invest in have seen the very worst conditions in life. They have either worked in a dumpsite themselves or seen family members do so for their survival. When we extend them a virtual lifeline through a scholarship, they feel a deep commitment to succeed and give back to their community the gift you have given them.

3. Our Local Teams. These are the folks making tough decisions about which young people have the most need or most potential and then making loving sacrifices to ensure that all of our scholars succeed. They are in the trenches, pulling people up with love, and also on the perch, guiding our scholars along the way.

4. Partners in Prayer. Out of both awe and gratitude, the family members of our scholars pray blessings over the people who support them all the time, and we have a vibrant network of supporters here who pray faithfully for scholars and their families too.

5. Our Strategic Plan. Our board and team leaders around the world came together in 2019 to create a plan to expand and deepen our impact. It doesn’t sit in a binder. The plan is written on the walls of our conference room with “smart numbers” we update each week to measure our steps toward success in all eight nations.

6. The “Holistic” Part of the Scholarship. Your support doesn’t just cover tuition, it covers food for families, as needed, and things like shoes and clothes for school too. Guided by our local teams who know best, your support for holistic scholarships ensures that our scholars and their families thrive–and that none of our scholars ever return to the dumps to work.

7. Our Global Reach. We are the largest non-governmental organization in the world dedicated exclusively to helping people in the communities surrounding garbage dumps. Yet we are small enough to enjoy a strong sense of community with our donors, teams, and scholars.

8. Phenomenal Results. Did you know that our graduates since 2019 are making almost three times as much as the households from which they come? That is such a unique sign of a successful mission. Few organizations will ever get to such a clear level of success at any time in their history.

9. Our Founding Families. A handful of couples gave generously over the first 24 years to create an endowment that has funded all of our U.S. expenses since 2019. We call this the Samaritan Promise, and it means that 100% of your gift goes directly to people and programs in the communities we serve.

10. Weekend Reflections. The messages we email to you every Friday are written as a letter of love to you who make this mission possible. People who support us will always know what is on our hearts and minds because of the trust we share in these Reflections. (And I love the way our team members around the world have developed a skill and passion to write and share their perspectives too.)

11. Samaritans for Life. Every course and workshop we offer is based on our purpose to build a generation of leaders who love God, love their neighbors as Jesus loves them, and to raise their family to do the same. Your support is giving them so much more than simply a college or trade school degree.

12. An Amazing Board. Last year, our board members and their friends and families gave half of the revenue we raised through gifts from individuals and family foundations. What’s more extraordinary than that? Perhaps the fact that one of our board members, Joe Rideout, has been serving since before we began 30 years ago. This is a board that loves our mission and gives generously of their time and resources to lead us well.

13. A Great Origin Story. “A priest and five students came across a garbage dump on a trip in Guatemala City…” The response of those students and the St. John’s Jesuit High School community in Toledo, since 1994, is the foundation of who we are today—people responding to Christ’s admonition to stop and answer a call to help.

14. The Desperate Need. People end up working in dumpsites because they are fleeing starvation in rural places, warfare, and natural disasters. The world is filled with great causes to support, but it’s difficult to find ones that are objectively more provocative than being able to lift children and their families out of the dangers of the dumpsites.

15. Life-Changing Partners. Coming out of the pandemic, we have reduced the number of partners visiting our communities by 75% so that only those who are committed to learning, serving, and growing together in mutually life-changing ways can take part. Formal evaluation data shows that our scholars are much stronger as a result.

16. The Ever-Present Dangers. Inside the dumpsite, trucks will not stop for people. The air is horrible for lungs to breathe. Skin infections run rampant. Gangs and sexual violence lurk around the corners. Heart-breaking issues can be overwhelming, but your support changes things.

17. Leveraging the Strength of Women. In some of our communities, the mothers were robbed of the chance to get an education as children, and have in fact endured much, much worse. Yet they remain the backbone of these communities. In the communities where we see the most growth, we also see mothers who have been able to leave their work in the dumpsite when their child gets a scholarship. They are learning how to read and write, raise livestock, build gardens, save money in groups, and start small businesses with the time that they used to spend looking for cardboard and plastic in the dump. These women, working together in about half of the communities we serve, are a force multiplier for our mission.

18. One-on-One Connections. Our team members meet with every scholar or their parents at least four times each year to discuss their goals, progress, and overall health, and they record these “Connections” in our database. Our U.S. team reads these every week to stay abreast of challenges, victories, and trends. This discipline makes our mission “to walk hand-in-hand” come alive in real time.

19. Fresh Water. In the last five years, we have brought fresh water to three communities in Honduras and Ethiopia for the first time in their history, and we are committed to doing the same for every community we serve that needs it.

20. Vibrant Committees. Board members and major donors give generously of their time on our Mission Advancement, Finance, and Executive committees to help us find solutions to current challenges as well as to plan for future growth. 

21. Andrew and Mary. These two good friends have been the heart and soul of our U.S. team for more than half of our history. They bring Catholic Social Teaching to life in all we do.

22. Alumni Coordinators. A current scholar or recent graduate in each community is leading an effort to help all of our alumni in that community grow in their career and life together, while also giving back to the scholars coming behind them.

23. Our Silent Partners. Almost two dozen people made gifts over $10,000 in 2022, and 100% of them gave again last year—often sponsoring ten or more students at a time. A smaller group of people are making six-figure gifts that are making fresh water systems and family life centers possible. They all keep a low profile but are making a HUGE impact.

24. Break-Out Scholars. We have scholars who may be in the Olympics four years from now, another who is on the verge of releasing a hit song, and at least two people who could become the leader of their nation one day, just off the top of my head. Not too long from now, I think you will be amazed to hear about people changing the world who got their start as Samaritan Scholars.

25. Family Life Centers. These might prove to be the breakthrough strategy for launching entire communities out of poverty—having a safe and loving space filled with opportunities for scholars to grow stronger together.

26. Formal Evaluation Results. Elite Research partners with us to conduct annual surveys of our scholars, parents, and alumni to give us progress reports on how our strategies are working in education and health as well as access to food and water over time.

27. Our U.S. Team. We restructured our team last year to reach the number one goal in our Strategic Plan of doubling the number of scholars we serve in the next five years. I hope you see and feel the excellence and love they bring to our mission in the interactions you have with us.

28. Leaning into Mental Health. Knowing the trauma and related issues faced by our families, we have been offering one-on-one therapy sessions and mental health workshops over the last four years that have significantly helped many of our scholars and their families defeat bouts of depression and related mental health challenges.

29. Leveraging Local Partnerships. Our teams all work closely with local schools, government agencies, churches, and local nonprofits to synchronize our efforts with their strengths and needs. We don’t duplicate resources. We multiply them.

30. This is personal. My wife and I have three children in their 20s who love the Lord as much as we do. Being a part of a faith-based family is the greatest adventure on earth. I spent ten years living outside of my faith in college and my 20s, and I want to help make sure that our scholars don’t repeat the stupid mistakes I made.

International Samaritan is a Christ-centered organization built on Catholic Social Teaching. Our mission is to walk hand-in-hand with people who live and work in the garbage dumps of developing nations to help them break out of poverty.

We provide holistic scholarships for students from kindergarten through college, and we’re currently supporting nearly 1,000 scholars in Central America, the Caribbean, and East Africa.

Would your church or school group like to partner and travel with us? Learn about our Learn, Serve, Grow program.

Empower our scholars to change their lives. Become a monthly supporter.

Mike Tenbusch, President

Mike joined International Samaritan in 2018 after two decades of leading social change in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. He’s a University of Michigan Law grad and author of The Jonathan Effect: Helping Kids and Schools Win the Battle Against Poverty. He and his wife, Maritza, have three children who keep them young.