The Knit Before Christmas

Each year our handknit gifts are distributed by chaplains working in Port Newark NJ, Port of Houston, and all along our inland waterways. They are so lucky to hear and see the reactions of the mariners who receive these gifts…don’t you think so? I’ve asked Chaplain Marge Lindstrom to share some of her 2008 stories with us…so we can feel a little bit of what it’s like to be there with them and to know what our gifts really mean to those who receive them.

Last January I finally caught up with one of the Horizon ships, an American ship that traveled between Puerto Rico and U.S…. It was the first week in January, and we were catching up with ships that we had missed earlier.  At any rate, I brought two and a half boxes of CAS to the gangway, and one of the deck hands helped bring the boxes up.  The Chief Officer was waiting for me at the top of the gangway, greeted me and said, “Seamen’s Church!  It is always a pleasure to welcome you  on board.  Are those Christmas presents for us?”  I said yes, and apologized for not getting them on board before Christmas.  The C/O smiled broadly, and said, “Oh, that doesn’t matter.  It means so much to the crew just to be remembered at this time of the year.”  Then he reminisced, “ I remember my first voyage as a cadet.  It was Christmas time, and I was really homesick.  I was miserable.  And then one of your chaplains came on board and delivered Christmas presents.  My C/O gave one to me, and I was just so grateful—no one else had given us anything, and I felt, well, cared for.  So thank you once again.  We have a cadet on board now who is also on his first voyage and is very homesick.  He is going to get the first present out of the box.”

Lots of SCI staff members lend a hand to make sure gifts get made and distributed. Take a gander at Deborah Blanchard, an attorney for the Center of Seafarers Rights as she protects one seafarer’s right to be warm.

Staff attorney Deb Blanchard knitting her first seafarer's scarf

Hi all,

Well, we are all hussle and bustle in the Christmas Room these days. So far we have collected 15,057 gifts and we’ve packed 13,557 of them as of today. So, the cupboards are starting to look a little bare, but we’re still receiving lots of packages every day.

Here’s a breakdown of our current inventory:

Mariners Scarves: 4506
We need: 494 more!
Mariners Caps: 3205
We need: 895 more!
Seafarer’s Sets: 5604
We need only 411 more!!!!
Socks, Vests & Helmets: 1774
We need 761 more!

We received a generous donation of handknit afghans, which are not easy for us to distribute to seafarers–its hard enough for our chaplains to make their way up the gangway bearing caps and scarves.   We have decided to gift these items to retired seafarers living at Snug Harbor in Nelson Bay, NC.

Snug Harbor was founded in New York and 1801 with the mission:

to always provide a home for “aged, decrepit and worn out seamen”

We’ve never given gifts to these mariners before and I am excited to have the opportunity to reach out to them this year.

If you’re in the New York City area, please join me for our annual volunteer holiday party on December 16th from 3-7pm. It’s an open house, so please bring your knitting and join us for whatever part of the evening you can. Hope to see you then!