Seamen’s Church Institute has announced that due to the ongoing government shutdown that they are now accepting donations to help support the US Coast Guard.
In a letter to supporters, Ann Souder, President of the Seamen’s Church Institute, stated;
“Dear Friends,
The US Government shutdown has just become the longest in our history and has potential implications for a group of people on whom we depend to help us, whether in an emergency at sea or for help with major events such as the Volvo Ocean Race stopover, the starts of Bermuda and Trans-Atlantic races and many others – the US Coast Guard.
To our knowledge the CG has the following facilities in Rhode Island – Castle Hill and Point Judith stations, the Aids to Navigation unit in Bristol and the Sector SE New England in East Providence. (Block Island is a seasonal station). Those assigned to these CG units continue to work or have been furloughed and did not receive their usual paychecks as of January 11th and we suspect that many of those assigned to these units are now in jeopardy.
We are soliciting funds to help support our Coast Guard friends in their time of need. Seamen’s Church Institute in Newport is happy to accept cash and food card donations which will be delivered directly to local Coast Guard units. While the Coast Guard cannot accept cash, Seamen’s will use any cash donated to purchase food cards.
Thank you,
Ann Souder
President”