A student uses school supplies from World Vision in an art class at a Chicago elementary school.

What you need to know about World Vision’s U.S. work in photos and videos

At World Vision, we’re called to serve the most vulnerable around the world, and that includes people right here in the United States.

Eight-year-old Zujey wants to be a lawyer when she grows up. Pastor Priscilla from Family Christian Assembly visits the family every week. The family lives in a run-down trailer in Lupita, Texas. They’re on the waiting list to get a new home.

We partner with a network of more than 3,000 churches, schools, and other community organizations across the United States, providing them with donated resources from our corporate partners.

Jesse Leaupepe volunteered at World Vision’s first distribution of Family Emergency Kits in March 2020 at Lake Burien Presbyterian Church in Burien, Washington.

Corporate donations include items such as clothing, hygiene supplies, and diapers.

Marilyn Strange, a mother with four foster children and two adopted children, shops at the SWAGG store in Waxahachie, Texas. The store offers clothes, toys, hygiene items, and other household supplies for foster children and their families.

We also supply building materials and furniture that equip our partner organizations to help people in need.

And through generous donors, we provide school supplies to teachers at Title I schools through our Teacher Resource Centers in six locations across the country.

Teachers Kelly Bodkin, left, and Lynette McNeal, shop for school supplies at the World Vision Teacher Resource Center in Chicago.

When disasters strike within the U.S., World Vision staff jump into action to make relief supplies available to families in need.

World Vision staff and members of Calvary Church distribute relief supplies in Utuado, Puerto Rico, after Hurricane Maria.

World Vision helped more than 132,000 people affected by storms in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina from September 2017 through the end of 2019.

Lily hugs her 4-month-old son Alex in front of the family home that was flooded by Hurricane Harvey.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread food insecurity within the United States. World Vision has responded by distributing 80,221 Family Emergency Kits through 51 church partners to serve 291,642 children and adults.

33-year-old Carmen needed milk for her baby and food for her five children. But the shelves of the nearby market where she shopped were empty. She described the Family Emergency Kits she picked up at a church in Bronx, New York, as a “blessing and beautiful expression of generosity.”

Family Emergency Kits contain a week’s worth of nutritious food for a family of five, hygiene and personal protective items, plus educational supplies for kids.

Last summer, World Vision became part of the USDA’s Farmers to Families program. Many U.S. farmers grow crops for specific vendors like restaurants, sports arenas, or vacation spots. When those locations closed or had their services severely limited, farmers had nowhere to ship their food.

Cody and Gracie looked through their family's Fresh Food Box to see what kind of produce had arrived.

The USDA connected those farmers with food distributors, who in turn get food to nonprofits so it can reach vulnerable families. Through the Fresh Food Box program that ended in May 2021, World Vision provided 3.6 million Fresh Food Boxes to nearly 14.3 million people across the U.S through a network of over 1,300 churches.

Flora Johnson and Angel Ryos from the League of United Latin American Citizens came to pick up Fresh Food Boxes at Victory World Outreach Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

Throughout the pandemic, as supplies ran short, World Vision worked to distribute more than 3 million units of personal protective equipment (PPE) to healthcare systems, first responders, and schools across the U.S.

Officers Cherl Clark (left) and Sabrina King picked up PPE at World Vision's warehouse in Chicago.

That includes police, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel in the Navajo Nation as case numbers began to surge in November 2020.

For teachers whose students’ families can’t afford school supplies, they have access to free items from World Vision a few times a year. We helped over 198,000 students and teachers at hundreds of schools nationwide in 2020.

Students at Peck Elementary School in Chicago receive Yoobi school supplies packs from World Vision.

In late summer and early autumn, World Vision hosts backpack drives to make sure kids have what they need to start off the school year.

Children receive new backpacks at Familia Cristiana Verbo, a Redwood City, California, church.

Throughout the school year, World Vision offers an afterschool tutoring and mentoring program for at-risk students called KidREACH.

Students in the KidREACH program listen to a story.

World Vision has continued supporting educators during the pandemic, adapting to meet the changing needs of school and students through school supply kits that families can pick up through the school district.

Volunteers and World Vision staff members work together to assemble kits filled with school supplies.

The KidREACH program pivoted to a virtual experience, continuing its partnership with an acting company called Old Brick Playhouse. Actors created a show offering comfort to kids as they faced a whole new world of the pandemic.

A scene from a TV show called Home Aid acted by members of Old Brick Playhouse. The skits helped children cope with being at home because of the coronavirus pandemic. Shows played first to KidREACH participants before expanding to other children in West Virginia.

World Vision and Worldreader partnered to make hundreds of diverse books available to families through an online app. Having access allows children to grow their reading skills during the pandemic.

Samantha and her two daughters, Rozida and Jayla, take full advantage of Worldreader’s app, which gives them access to hundreds of books. Samantha feels that the diversity of the stories expands their minds.

As many students return to in-person learning, World Vision is providing additional cleaning supplies and signs with physical distancing guidelines that teachers can use to help keep their students and staff healthy. Prior to schools opening back up for students, World Vision provided over 1.5 million units of PPE to 800 Title 1 schools to serve more than 400,000 children, teachers, and families in need.

Jammikka Nelson, the principal at George Leland Elementary School says that even though the Chicago Public Schools are providing cleaning supplies, it’s great to have additional support. “It takes a load off.”

World Vision engages local volunteers from churches, schools, corporations, and special-needs groups. In 2020, more than 2,100 volunteers donated 32,900 hours of their time.

Volunteer Robin Eddington organizes hygiene and school supplies at the Teacher Resource Center at World Vision's North Texas field site.

COVID-19 limited volunteer hours, but warehouses are now opening back up to volunteer groups, while ensuring compliance with safety guidelines.

Volunteer Roger Nelson packs up and labels boxes of masks to be shared with local schools.

Volunteers saved World Vision $838,000 in labor costs in 2020, which allowed us to invest more to serve the most vulnerable in America.

Melina Marroquin once received needed help as a child in Guatemala. Now she’s filling up bottles of hand sanitizer to include in Family Emergency Kits.

World Vision continues to provide for community organizations and churches through the United States and by so doing, ensures that the most vulnerable families and children receive the assistance they need.

Lucy, an adoptive and fostering West Virginia mother of 8 (7 at home) sits with three of her adopted children on the steps in front of their home.