Operation Blessing, Inc

The seeds of Operation Blessing were planted in the heart of Rachel Sparkowich in 1978, when she visited a local family that had many needs and did not know from where the next meal was coming. She was deeply moved by their situation and alerted friends, family and her church of their need. Items to aid the family began to flow into her home. She soon met more families with critical needs and by 1981, approximately 25 families were being helped out of her home. As the community responded to the need, her home was rapidly becoming too small to serve as the hub of operations.

The answer to prayer came in 1982, when free space in the basement of a local church became available. Rachel’s husband, Rick, became more actively involved and at a meeting held in their home, representatives from four area churches stepped forward to become coordinators. The coordinators serve to make the needs of the Ministry known to their pastors and congregations.

The outreach, which had previously operated on a small scale, took on the name Operation Blessing and began to grow rapidly as more volunteers and churches became involved. Currently operating in 10,000 square feet of space in Portsmouth, NH, Operation Blessing now has more than 50 volunteers, a small staff, and more than 40 coordinators at affiliated churches.

Since 1995, Operation Blessing has served the needs of over 187,000 people in their time of crisis. Today, thousands of people are helped annually and the need for volunteers, public support, and services continues to grow as more churches become actively involved and the economy creates hard times for families in our community.

Operation Blessing is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt non-denominational Christian ministry that works with participating churches and human services organizations to serve families in Southeastern New Hampshire and Southern Maine.