Women's Seafarers Friend Society

WSFS Home Page

The Womens' Seafarers Friend Society consists of individual Church women who have undertaken a ministry of support to seafarers.

WSFS has deep roots in 19th-Century New England, but its branches today reach high and spread wide, including participating members who have moved to warmer climates well beyond the rock and ivy of our native soil.

WSFS undertakes activities of Christian Fellowship during the course of the year. The women of WSFS also raise funds for their ministry, and each year they gather for Ditty Bag Packing Day, during which time WSFS and its friends (including some brave men) pack over 1,700 small bags with warm hats, tee-shirts, other small items, and toiletries. This year 62 volunteers,women and men, packed 1,788 bags.

These bags are given as Christmas gifts to seafarers to be distributed to the seafarers from New York to Portland who are away from home and family during the cold and dangerous months of winter. For those who come from Christian homes, the ditty bags serve as reminders that God's love and Christian Fellowship touch them all over the world.

For those from cultures where Christianity remains a mystery, the ditty bags often provide the chaplains of the maritime missions with an opportunity to tell the story of Jesus' birth and its purpose.

To this end, the Womans' Seafarers Friend Society has chosen New England Seafarers Mission as its seafarers mission.