St. Michael and All Angels St. Paddy’s Day Beef on a Bun Supper
will be held on Saturday March 14, 5:30 – 6:30, followed by games and family fun. Adults $12.50; Children $5. For information and tickets, call the church office at 767-4711.

St. Luke’s Tenth Annual
Irish Stew Dinner

will be held on Saturday, March 21st, 2015, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall at the corner of Cameron & Mackenzie Streets. Tickets $15 for adults; no charge for children. Takeout available for $12. For tickets call Sally McBain 344-0906 or Patricia Mark 623-8594. Funds raised will go to support a local charity.

To: Friends of the Mission to Seafarers:
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. While we explored the possibility of obtaining a grant, a mini-van was rented.

The van rental was an unplanned for expense and it cost the Mission $9,300. St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Thunder Bay made a generous contribution towards the rental, and we realized some savings in unspent repair costs. The Board would like to thank churches, groups and individuals who donated toward the van in 2014. As of December 31, 2014 the Capital Fund had $6,072.21 that includes funds donated for upgrades to the Seafarers’ Centre as well as the purchase of a van, and the General Fund had a small deficit of -$590.03.

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.

Our considerations for a new van:
· The maximum size van that a person can drive with a G license is 9 passengers.
· Often 8 seafarers from a ship would like transportation at a given time. It is a 60 minute round trip from the Seafarers’ Centre to Superior Terminal or Mission Terminal in the south end of the Port. In an evening shift, there is time to make a maximum of 3 pickups. With a smaller van during a busy time of the year, we may not be able to transport everyone ashore who would like to go ashore.

The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) Seafarers Trust has awarded the Mission to Seafarers: Port of Thunder Bay a grant of 25,000 pounds sterling. Our goal is to have a van ready to transport seafarers in mid-April.

Groups and individuals are invited to donate to the purchase of a van so that the Mission to Seafarers can continue its valuable ministry to seafarers.

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!