Mercy Ride is being organized by the Northern Virginia Hospitaller Region of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Members and postulants to the Order are organizing the event as a way to live out their religious charism to care for the sick and the poor. 

The Order of Malta is one of the oldest chivalric orders of the Catholic Church, and among the oldest extant sovereign institutions in the world. It was formally established in 1113 AD by the Papal Bull "Pie Postulatio Voluntatis" with the primary objective of protecting and caring for pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land via hospitals operated by the knights. The Order of Malta continues that hospitaller mission to this day, facilitating health services for people around the world. Its flagship project is still in the Holy Land — operating and maintaining the Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem, which has delivered over 100,000 babies since 1990. Many of these children would not have survived without the Order’s service, as Holy Family Hospital is the only hospital in the region able to safely deliver premature babies. It also operates the region's only Level 3 neonatal intensive care unit. Entry into the Order of Malta is by invitation only. Members are inducted as knights and dames in one three classes, all governed by the Prince Grandmaster in Rome.