{"id":1704,"date":"2022-12-01T17:57:22","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T17:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marereport.namma.org\/?p=1704"},"modified":"2024-01-19T20:55:15","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T20:55:15","slug":"galveston-seafarers-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marereport.namma.org\/index.php\/2022\/12\/01\/galveston-seafarers-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Galveston Seafarers\u2019 Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/marereport.namma.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/NAMMA-CHRISTMAS-GALVESTON-SEAFARERS-CENTER-DECEMBER-1-2022-BY-SUSAN-HUPPERT.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Article audio (courtesy of Don Sheetz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>by Susan Huppert, NAMMA<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Giving can begin with just a conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rob Henkel, Vice President of Operations and Galveston Cruise for Ceres Terminals Inc. found a conversation at the docks that lead to a much-needed gift. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Henkel and friends at Ceres extended its concern for seafarers in a tangible way by recently donating a 16-passenger van to the Galveston Seafarer Center in the Port of Galveston, Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During his experience in various ports throughout the country, Henkel noticed the impact of seafarer centers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI have always had an affinity for\nseafarers and appreciate the incredible amount of things that crew members\nbenefit from, in the centers provided,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSeafarers need to be taken care of and I\nwanted to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Port of Galveston is the fourth most\npopular U.S. cruise port and only home port in Texas.&nbsp; The industry is a major source of port\nrevenue with an estimated 1.1 million passengers sailing. Consequently, it is a\nmajor source of seafarers and associated needs also.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Henkel puts it in perspective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere are 2,000 seafarers on the <em>Allure of the Seas<\/em> cruise ship,\u201d he\nsaid, which docks at Port Galveston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the pandemic, the new director of\nthe Galveston Seafarers\u2019 Center would pull alongside ships to deliver packages.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI met Rob when I was waiting for clearance\nto board ships,\u201d said director, Jim Lewis. \u201cHe walked up and asked a few\nquestions. We began talking about the seafarer center. A relationship developed\non the dock which ultimately led to the donation of a van to transport\nseafarers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was overwhelmed,\u201d said Lewis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lewis, a former UPS employee joined the GSC staff about three years ago and seems to thrive on meeting the needs of seafarers. On his feet for hours when crew members from cruise ships flood the center during their limited time off their vessel, Lewis is in his element. He is blown away by the gratitude of seafarers and the dedication of the mission\u2019s volunteers, particularly at Christmas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;\u201cThis\nis the most rewarding job I have ever had,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just gave out 100\nChristmas shoe boxes filled with personal hygiene products, t-shirts, socks,\nflashlight, gloves and more. The appreciation is equal to the dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Along with the cruise industry, the Galveston port moves more than 4 million tons of cargo annually. Each vessel has an average of 20 crew members. Currently, more than 400 filled boxes have been donated from churches, civic groups and individuals for the cargo ships and fishers at the docks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;\u201cThe\noutpouring of support is impressive. A slew of volunteers help out,\u201d said\nLewis. \u201cI could not do it alone.\u201d &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During November, 1,544 cruise ship crew members visited the center where access to most of their needs is met. In addition, 1,000 were transported between the vessels and center or to shopping. Since they receive attention and care regularly, the GSC Christmas focus is on the crew of cargo ships and fishers this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere seems to be a tighter grip on them,\nwith only one or two in the center per week,\u201d said Lewis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Deacon Jeff Willard, port chaplain, and other volunteers deliver Christmas boxes to the ships at the cargo docks between December and mid-January. Each box is personally given with a hand-knit or crocheted muffler or hat provided by the ten volunteers of the Hooks and Needles Club, who began knitting in January and have over 400 knitted donations so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If anything has changed since the\npre-pandemic days it is an increase of activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are in better shape today,\u201d said Lewis.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After reviewing past records Lewis reports\nthat in 2019 an average of 690 seafarers visited the center per month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNow people are coming in by droves and\nvolunteers are consistent and asking what more they can do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 61-year-old director has no lead in his\nboots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI give my elevator speech every time I\nhave a change, T.V., radio, the Art Walk, Rotary and Chamber groups,\u201d he said.\n\u201cAnything I can do to keep GSC in the forefront.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enthusiasm, passion, support and drive &#8211; at\nGalveston it is all for the seafarers, especially at Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Susan Huppert, NAMMA Giving can begin with just a conversation. Rob Henkel, Vice President of Operations and Galveston Cruise for Ceres Terminals Inc. found a conversation at the docks that lead to a much-needed gift. Henkel and friends at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":2479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[386],"tags":[564,565,404,44,150],"class_list":["post-1704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christmas","tag-ceres","tag-cruise-terminal","tag-galveston","tag-stella-maris","tag-texas"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Galveston Seafarers&#039; Center Christmas - The MARE Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Join the heartwarming Christmas celebration at Galveston, dedicated to appreciating and honoring seafarers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marereport.namma.org\/index.php\/2022\/12\/01\/galveston-seafarers-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Galveston Seafarers&#039; Center Christmas - 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