After 30 Years

Thirty years ago this summer, International Samaritan began when Fr. Don Vettese, S.J. and a car full of St. John’s Jesuit students (including a young Chris Lindsey, who has been serving on our board for the last 11 years) came across the garbage dump in Guatemala City and were horrified by what they witnessed. They stopped to ask how they could help–literally, and then when they got back home to Toledo they wrote the Mayor of Guatemala City a letter asking what they could do. When the Mayor responded that the community could use help with housing, another group of St. John’s students went back the next summer and helped to build a small model home community that stands strong to this day, thanks to a gift from the late Bill Pulte and his wife, Karen.

For 30 years now, people like you have visited these communities and generously supported our mission to help them. Because of your responses, we are currently in eight communities in seven nations, in addition to our team in the United States. While our first 15 years were focused primarily on service immersion and medical mission trips to build housing, classrooms, and medical clinics, our last 15 years has been dedicated to providing holistic scholarships to children in those communities to break the cycle of poverty there. More than 900 young people are currently Samaritan Scholars because of your support.

As we celebrate our first 30 years this summer, please know that our next 30 years are going to be even better. We have more than 300 Samaritan Scholars who have graduated from college or trade school. Did you know that 15 of them are working on our teams to help the scholars coming behind them, or that one of them, Yoli Chacaj in Guatemala, is the first Samaritan Scholar to become the leader of one of our nation’s teams?  

Here’s what I know: all of our Samaritan Scholars have this profound determination to make the world better because of what you have done for them. They are going to be leading change efforts in every nation where we have a team, and the world is going to be a much better place as a result in the generation to come.

Would you please take a moment to offer them some encouragement? We have created this commemorative website, much like one for a wedding, to celebrate the memories from our first 30 years. If you have a picture or story you’d like to share from your time with us, please post it. If you have some advice or inspiration to share with our scholars and team members around the world, please take a moment to do that now. In a world that overlooks the communities we serve, tangible expressions of your love and support tend to bring extra strength to them.

Celebrating 30 Years

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.