On Thursday, Reverend Franklin Graham, the president of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association presented the Good Samaritan Award to North Carolina’s Governor Pat McCrory.

LIVE on #Periscope: I'm honored to present our Good Samaritan award to @PatMcCroryNC for his leadership during #Hur… https://t.co/B7gxqba8Hp

— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) November 3, 2016

It was a well-deserved reward, in that the governor has not let a heated campaign keep him from doing his job, or standing up in the face of adversity.

“This is to just say thank you for the people of North Carolina that you have been helping and that you have been serving not only since you’ve been governor but for the past few weeks,” Graham told McCrory at the Boone-based headquarters of Samaritan’s Purse. Just to say thank you on our behalf.”

“We wanted you to come today to recognize your help and your leadership, which is affecting the lives of so many people,” Graham told McCrory.

Hurricane Matthew swept through the Tarheel state in early October, causing millions of dollars in damage, putting many communities under water – driving people from their homes into shelters, damaging roads and businesses, and costing about 25 North Carolinians their lives.

Many are only very recently getting power restored.

I was one of the fortunate ones that only had to endure three days without power. Many in the state had it so much worse.

Governor McCrory was relentless in keeping the state informed, surveying the damage, first hand, by getting on the ground, going into the communities and crowded shelters, as well as giving multiple, daily updates on social media and local news.

Upon receiving the award, the governor was very gracious.

“I am extremely honored to receive this recognition, but I am not here to accept this recognition,” McCrory said. “I am here to help communicate the needs of over 40 counties and thousands of individuals that were impacted by the worst natural disaster that North Carolina has seen in our lifetime.”

On Facebook, Graham said McCrory “responded with great leadership – organizing efforts to get families back into their homes, re-open schools and roads, restore power, and get businesses back on their feet.”

And he has. He was the leader we needed in this state when a disaster of this magnitude hit.

Reverend Graham went on to say that Samaritan’s Purse has committed to building 20 new homes to donate to those in the state who saw their homes destroyed by the flooding.

Congratulations to Governor McCrory for a well-deserved bit of recognition for performing his duties honorably.