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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Seafarers benefit from St. Therese OUTREACH

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St. Therese Parish Community OUTREACH along with its children’s ministry organized a Christmas gift drive to benefit the International Seamen Center’s Christmas Sea program. The International Seamen Center is a Christian ministry whose mission is to minister to the spiritual and temporal needs of seafarers docked in the Wilmington port who are away from family, friends and home during this Christmas season.

Extending an expression of warm welcome and kindness to those disenfranchised sailors, the outreach, chaired by Mike George, and the children’s ministry, led by Megan Gavrillen, encouraged donations during a Christmas Gift Drive Dec. 13 and 14.

OUTREACH member Virginia Baker and her daughter Sarah Baker crocheted and knitted handmade hats. Those along with 21 tall kitchen bags containing travel-size shampoos, lotions, soaps, toothbrushes, toothpaste, toiletries, hard candy, socks, gloves, small flashlights and playing cards were among the items collected and donated to ISC.

Cary Newman, ISC board chairman, said the gifts are distributed to 600-700 seafarers from more than 40 countries, with most from the Philippines, Ukraine and Korea, from the International Seamen’s Center on the Port of Wilmington or on board ship at the port between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.

The St. Therese Catholic Church collection was the largest single donation from any church to the Christmas at Sea program at the ISC, Newman said.  — Marimar McNaughton

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