Part of a long-standing tradition at Seafarer's Friend, Ditty Bags are
practical little gifts that convey the love, concern, and compassion
 of the church to the men and women working at sea.

Ditty Bags

Dit´ty-bag`
n. 1. A sailor's small bag to hold thread, needles, tape and necessary items.; - also called sailor's housewife.

Every year Seafarer's Friend gives out hundreds of ditty bags to sailors.

THIS YEAR YOU CAN SEND A PERSONAL GREETING TO A SEAFARER!

As you can imagine, holidays at sea, away from family and friends are brutal. There is no way that a small bag of deodorant and toothpaste can make up for that loss, but is remarkable what it does accomplish. It validates the recipient. It says, we see you; we care about you; we understand what you have sacrificed to be here today - thank you, and God bless. Another way to let the seafarers know that you care is to send a personal greeting inside a ditty bag. They'll appreciate the personal touch you give in the way of a hand-written note or card, or pass on your greeting by email and we'll include a note on your behalf.

So, want to help? There are a few things you can do: (1) Provide the items included in a ditty bag.
                                                                                              (2) Help pack ditty-bags for delivery.
                                                                                              (3) Make your own ditty bags.
                                                                                              (4) Create knit caps to be included in the ditty bags.
                                                                                              (5) New! Create fleece caps to be included in the ditty bags.
                                                                                              (6) Send a greeting to a seafarer by email:
                                                                                                    admin@seafarersfriend.org
  

Common items needed for the ditty-bags:

Envelopes	Band-Aids	Cologne	Deodorant	First-Aid Kits	Gloves	Hair Brushes	Kleenex
Knit Hats	Memo Pads	Mending Kit	Nail Clippers	Nail Files	Pens/ Pencils	Playing cards	Postcards
Razors	Scarves	Shaving Cream	Shaving Lotion	Shoe Polish	Shoelaces	Socks	Tooth Brushes
Toothpaste	Writing Paper		A red X indicates that we have plenty of that item (Please, no hotel soap!)

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Ditty-bag assembly

Throughout the year, but especially near the holidays, Seafarer's Friend hosts ditty-bag parties to pack-up the materials people have been sending all year long. We will be posting the party dates to our website soon. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to call our Administrative Assistant, Susan Stauss, at 671.889.3222. If you have enough people, we may schedule a party at our Boston Seafarer's Center just for you!

Boston Seafarer's Center
   -Click here for directions
  

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