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Dear Friends,
Since 1973 Houstonians and Texans have shown their hospitality to the over 11,000 seafarers that come to us during the Christmas season each year and receive the Christmas gift boxes. Again we are asking you to help us fulfill the challenge to welcome the stranger among us. Unfortunately since 9/11/01 we have lived in an atmosphere of fear and suspicion of the stranger. Our laws and regulations have many times imprisoned the seafarer aboard ship. Our anxieties have stifled the warmth and exchange of cultural richness that we, as Americans and Christians, are capable of offering.
Your Christmas gift contradicts this fear and confirms Jesus’ command that we “love our neighbor as ourselves”. We start placing Christmas gifts aboard ships on November 15th. We are gratefully prepared to receive your gift boxes anytime—you can’t be too early or too late to bring your gifts to one of our two Seafarers’ Centers!
Please try to pack a shoebox FULL with items such as these:
| band-aids |
key chains |
| comb |
paper & envelopes |
| dental floss |
pencils & pens |
| deodorant |
playing cards |
| disposable razors |
puzzles & games |
| flashlight |
postcards |
| kleenex & q-tips |
socks |
| lotion & lip balm |
Knit Caps |
| nail clippers |
Warm Gloves |
| needle & thread |
stamps |
| shaving cream |
Religious Items |
| soap & shampoo |
Texas souvenirs |
| toothbrush toothpaste |
Any Souvenirs |
| address book |
T-shirts |
| calendar |
Coffee Mugs |
| disposabl cameras |
Baseball caps |
| gum & hard candy |
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The seafarers appreciate these items tremendously. Please be sure your gift box is packed full—quality is more important than quantity! As there are very few women and children onboard the ships these days, we would request that the gift boxes primarily be packed for male seafarers.
These gifts of love should be packed shoebox size, WRAPPED AND TIED SECURELY as one unit in Christmas paper. PLEASE DO NOT WRAP LID AND BOX SEPARATELY. Please do not place bows on the boxes. If you wish to donate scriptures or tracts, please bring them separately and not inside the Christmas box so we can match up appropriate languages. Please include your name and address, or the name of your church or group, in each box. You may receive a thank you note from a grateful seafarer!
You are encouraged to visit the Seafarers’ Center and bring your boxes to either center (see maps on back). Year-around we appreciate donations of magazines (especially National Geographic, news, entertainment, and sports, and travel magazines), paperback books, jigsaw puzzles and other games, videos and DVD’s.
Seafarers’ Centers Hours of Operation
10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. (except Sundays & Holidays 1:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.)
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