In This Issue

A Word from our Director

Save the Date

Sea Stories

Wish List

Contact Us

Boston/Chelsea Office

77 Broadway

Chelsea, MA

02150

(617) 889-3222

Email Us

Portsmouth Office

231 Gosling Rd

Portsmouth, NH 03801

(855) 661-0330

Portland Office

Marine Trade Center

2 Portland Fish Pier

Suite 103

Portland, ME 04101

(207) 956-7677

Board of Directors

Mr. Steven C. Dodge, Chair

Mr. Daniel K. Webster, Esq., Vice Chair

Mr. Andrew Wandell, Treasurer

Capt. William F. Malloy Jr USN (Ret.), Secretary

Mrs. Anne Butman

Rev. John Carson

Mr. Charles Itz

Mr. Walker Martin

Capt. Angel Montanez

Mr. Tom Reinfuss

Capt. Jim Staples

Staff

Executive Director

Ms. Meredith Connell

Chaplains

Mr. Robert Bacon

Mr. Tim Owen

Mr. Tom Reinfuss

Mr. Lance Williams, Sr

Operations Manager

Mrs. Crissy Jache

Support Seafarer's Friend

Donate Here

We make it easy to support the mission of Seafarer's Friend. Without ongoing financial support from churches, individuals and businesses we would not be able to meet the needs of today's seafarers. You can feel confident that you can safely and securely Donate Online through PayPal or you can mail a donation to our office in Chelsea.

We also accept old vehicle donations through Donation Angel. The money received goes directly to fulfilling our mission.

Please consider a donation today.

June 25, 2015

A Word from our Director - Meredith Connell

Greetings friends! Today we celebrate the Day of the Seafarer, an official United Nations observance day instituted by the International Maritime Organization to remember the importance of seafarers around the world. The Day of the Seafarer provides a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness about life at sea. We salute the hard working men and women who have chosen this noble profession that brings us 90% of our every day consumables. Their importance to our global economy cannot be understated. Closer to home, we at Seafarer's Friend consider it a privilege to serve these seamen who dock in the ports of Boston, Portsmouth, NH and Portland, ME.

Recently I was having lunch with my mother and a woman seated at the table next to us happened to overhear our conversation. She inquired about my profession and I informed her that I work for Seafarer's Friend, a 188 year old non-profit organization that serves the maritime community in New England. Upon hearing this she was excited to inform me that her son will be attending Massachusetts Maritime Academy in the fall as a freshman. She was so proud of the course of direction he was taking and I couldn't help but being excited as well!

This year's theme of IMO/Day of the Seafarer is #CareeratSea. Together with other organizations such as NAMMA, ISWAN and ICMA, Seafarer's Friend encourages you to consider a profession in the maritime world.

We welcome you to visit us at any one of our offices and encourage you to join us on a ship visit. Please call in advance to schedule a time.

Thank you for your continued support of our mission.

Blessings,

Meredith

Save the Date

Thursday, September 17th at 1800 hours

You are invited to join us for this year's Seafarer's Friend End of Summer Celebration on Thursday, September 17th at 1800 hours.

This year's event will be held at Orient Heights Yacht Club in East Boston and will feature a Lobster Dinner with all the fixings (Non Seafood option will be available).

Please join us in honoring (Ret.) Captain Arnold Itz for his faithful service to Seafarer's Friend and the New England Maritime community.

Suggested donation of $50/per person includes dinner, dessert, entertainment and an evening of camaraderie. A cash bar is available and the view of the harbor and airport is a sight to behold.

We will also have a silent auction to benefit the ongoing services of Seafarer's Friend with items from around New England.

If you or your company are interested in supporting this event - Corporate sponsorships are still available - click here for a Sponsor Sheet.

Sea Stories - Notes from Ship Visits

Our chaplains make notes of every ship visit. Here is a glimpse of what they encounter while visiting a crew. It is heart warming and reminds us of the critical work God has entrusted us with to help these Seafarers connect back home with their loved ones and to have the opportunity to receive His word. After reading these Sea Stories pause for a moment and pray for those mentioned - God knows their every need.

May 8, 2015

Boston

19 Crew - 8 Indian officers and 11 Filipino crew (all with visas). Wonderful visit with lots of phone card sales and conversation. Gave away Bibles, Our Daily Breads, magazines, and New Testaments. The Chief Engineer, when he saw me observing the microphone stands, said, "Filipinos and their karaoke. They can live without food, but they cannot live without karaoke."

May 22, 2015

Portland

Met the Captain at a very busy time for this Soil Ship coming from Brazil. Captain invited me for lunch; I stayed and was able to connect with the cooks help. His name was Spaso from Croatia who has two boys back home 14 and 18. He is on board for 6 months at a time and misses his family. I was able to sell him a T-Mobile SIM to connect with his family. Good visit. All European crew besides two from Ethiopia.

Seafarer's Friend Wish List

We thank each and every one of our friends who continually provide us with ditty bag supplies and monetary donations to continue this great work. Our current needs are:

It's never too early to be making ditty bags and collecting personal care items. We will soon be preparing ditty bags for the seafarers and will need your support. Print out our Ditty Bag Instructions here if you or a group at your church or neighborhood are interested in making ditty bags. This also a great project for a youth group service project. It is a lot of fun to do and the seafarers are like little kids when they receive them. The smiles are worth a million bucks.

Seafarer's Friend | 617-889-3222 | operationsmanager@seafarersfriend.org | http://www.seafarersfriend.org
77 Broadway
Chelsea, MA 02150