St. James Anglican Church, Murillo Annual Pancake Supper, Shrove Tuesday, February 17th at the Church in Morrow Hall, from 4:30 P.M. – 6:30 P.M. Sausage, dessert and refreshments included. Proceeds to the Rural Cupboard Food Bank. Free Will Offering. Come and Feel Our Country Warmth In Christ. For more information call Gladys 935-2202.

Mission to Seafarers Van Update

This past May (2014) our van broke down. Due to the nature of the repairs and the age of the van (1981), the Mission’s Board of Directors did not support putting any more money into repairing the van. An application was submitted in May to the International Transport Workers’ Federation Trust for a grant to replace the van, and a decision on the grant was to have been made in August, however that was deferred until November. In December we heard that our grant application had been turned down. We were advised to resubmit our application and we expect to hear in February. Realistically, we recognize that we must make contingency plans in case our application is unsuccessful. Should that happen, we plan to purchase the best used van we can afford in March 2015, and continue fundraising towards a new van at some point in the future.

For the 2014 shipping season we had no choice but to rent a van. The van rental was an unplanned for expense. To date the van rentals have cost the Mission $9,300. St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Thunder Bay made a generous contribution towards the rental, and we will realize some savings in unspent repair costs, however, as you can imagine, any and all donations towards our van costs would be most appreciated.

It would greatly impact on the reputation of the Mission if we were not able to offer transport to seafarers. This past shipping season (2014) we transported 1,202 seafarers, 791 of which came to the Centre. Transportation is highly desired. In addition to using the facilities of the Centre to get in touch with their families, seafarers need to get to a store to purchase toiletries and other items. Most of our activity this year has been at Current River Terminal, Richardson’s Elevator, Mission Terminal and Superior Terminal. For those unfamiliar with Thunder Bay, Current River Terminal and Richardson’s are about a 15 minute drive one-way north of the Seafarers’ Centre, and Mission Terminal and Superior Terminal are about a 30 minute drive one-way south. This past summer a seafarer took a taxi from Mission Terminal to the Centre, and it cost him $70 one-way.

The Mission to Seafarers: Port of Thunder Bay has a Charitable Registration Number and an income tax receipt will be issued to donors. Cheques should be made payable to ‘The Mission to Seafarers’.

Donations may be made at any time by mailing them to:
The Mission to Seafarers: Port of Thunder Bay
Suite 450, 100 Main St.
Thunder Bay, ON P7B 6R9

Many thanks to anyone who is able to help up out on this important project!