Every day of the year, even on holidays, Fort Vancouver Seafarer’s Center puts out the “Welcome to Vancouver” mat for Merchant Marines and seafarers, which helps to meet their urgent needs. A quarter million seafarer guests have passed through our center in more than four decades. Sixty percent of these people are from the Philippines where large families benefit from the seafarer wages sent home. Many seafarers have to work in constant danger and often do not have the best of wages.
Through an annual benefit concert on March 25, together we can shoulder some of the cost of this service. I can proudly say that Jim Fischer and Friends plan for a full house for the show. Good local talent will have us laughing and cheering through music and comedy. You can get tickets at the Royal Durst Theater, 3101 Main Street.
As word gets out that the good Vancouver people are hospitable, we keep our good name in other countries. Some may remember when the Revs. Ron Hummel and Carl Landerholm were our leaders. Many other laypeople took their turn, and now with Kent Williams as the center’s executive director, and trusted volunteers, the center is alive and well. Let’s keep it that way.
Alvin Fischer
Vancouver
