First Congregational Church in Stoneham

From Seafarer's Friend:
"On behalf of the Board of Directors, staff and, most of all, the seafarers we serve, thank you for your financial gift of $200.00 and the thoughtful gift of the hand knitted caps. We sincerely apologize for the delay in this letter being sent to you. We have had to keep our staff at a minimum for office help to ensure that our efforts and finances go to serving the seafarers to the best of our abilities. Between vaccinations, booster shots, shopping for seafarers as well as meeting their spiritual and emotional needs we have been stretched to the limits. With the most recent events of the Russian-Ukraine war, it has brought a new level of stress to the seafarers. Not only were the Ukraine seafarers unable to connect with loved ones to find out if their families were safe, but also the Russian seafarers were unable to send money home to support their families. In these situations, it is the innocent that bear the burden of the effects of war.
Your support has helped us to meet the needs of seafarers in so many new and different ways than ever before. Just recently we had to deal with a captain that was denying his crew members their right to be vaccinated against Covid-19. For these seafarers, if they didn't get vaccinated while in our Boston port, they would not be able to go home to their families. The lives of seafarers are at the mercy of captains, shipping companies and others to get their basic need fulfilled. We were able to assist in making sure they did get vaccinated and they were able to go home. All of this would not be possible if not for your faithfulness in supporting this ministry
Again, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for partnering with us.
Gratefully,
Ida L. MacRae Executive Director"