What's Happening at the ISC
Seafarers' Center Looking for Volunteers
by Taylor Cooper / [email protected]
The International Seafarers' Center is looking for volunteers to help make sailors calling on the Port of Brunswick from abroad feel a little more at home.
The port welcomed a 656-foot car-carrying cargo vessel to the port called the Toredor and its crew of 24 Wednesday night. The officers were from India and most of the crew from the Philippines. They didn't hang around long, leaving the following afternoon, but the center rolled out the red carpet while they were here.
"It's a totally different type of volunteer opportunity because you get to meet people from all over the world here in little Brunswick," said new executive director Peter Boyton.
The center is looking for volunteer in all areas. Some volunteers run a store at the port, some serve at a hospitality center in Brunswick and others drive sailors around.
Although Boyton has held the top job for only a month, he's been involved in the center for a decade.
He found out about the center in 2012 at CoastFest. While no stranger to volunteering, he said something about the opportunity grabbed his attention, so he asked how he could get a closer look at the huge car-carrying ships and machinery.
"They said to become a volunteer," he said.
He remained a volunteer until 2019, the year he took over as director of volunteers.
"Now, I'm just taking on the added role of running the whole things," Boyton said.
He's worked in a number of different jobs from practice management in the medical field to stockbroking. When he moved to the Golden Isles, he wore the hat of instructor at the STAR Foundation, which offers workforce training programs to residents. During the eight years he spent there, he simultaneously volunteered at the Seafarers' Center.
That turned out to be a more interesting journey than he imagined. He got an up-close look at the massive vessels, most of which are around 656 feet long.
According to statistics from the last 10 years, the port welcomes thousands of sailors and officers annually from over two dozen countries. While most are from the Philippines, others hail from India, Burma, Bulgaria, Mexico and the Republic of Kiribati.
"I didn't know about it (Kiribati) until I met them (crewmembers)," Boyton said. "It's a country about the same size as the U.S. but it's in the Pacific Ocean. It's a bunch of atolls and an island."
The sailors and officers get a little time off while the stevedores load and unload the ships. The Seafarers' Center tries to make their stay more comfortable and relaxing.
Not far from where the ships dock, there's a little shop where volunteers sell a variety of items from hygiene products to snacks, many straight from the Philippines.
"It's a very lonely job. The Filipino guys we see mostly, their contracts are for eight to 10 months a year and they get a few months off." Boyton said. "So that's all they see. The Ro/Ro (vehicle and heavy equipment carriers) ships are pretty nice, but the bulk cargos are a lot smaller."
Thinking back on his time as a volunteer, Boyton said one of his more rewarding experiences was helping a Filipino sailor to finally get some shore leave after 18 months. He had been quarantined at home between his shipping contracts and hadn't been off a ship in more than a year.
Taking him around town and showing him the area was one of the more rewarding interactions he's had, but Boyton said every ship brings in crew and opportunities to connect with.
Cheering up crew members and making them feel important is what the center is all about, he said, and it's that part that appeals to him.
"Because they are important. Without the, those cars wouldn't have gotten here," Boyton said.
For more information on volunteering with the International Seafarers' Center, call 912-267-0631 or check out the volunteer tab on our website.
The port welcomed a 656-foot car-carrying cargo vessel to the port called the Toredor and its crew of 24 Wednesday night. The officers were from India and most of the crew from the Philippines. They didn't hang around long, leaving the following afternoon, but the center rolled out the red carpet while they were here.
"It's a totally different type of volunteer opportunity because you get to meet people from all over the world here in little Brunswick," said new executive director Peter Boyton.
The center is looking for volunteer in all areas. Some volunteers run a store at the port, some serve at a hospitality center in Brunswick and others drive sailors around.
Although Boyton has held the top job for only a month, he's been involved in the center for a decade.
He found out about the center in 2012 at CoastFest. While no stranger to volunteering, he said something about the opportunity grabbed his attention, so he asked how he could get a closer look at the huge car-carrying ships and machinery.
"They said to become a volunteer," he said.
He remained a volunteer until 2019, the year he took over as director of volunteers.
"Now, I'm just taking on the added role of running the whole things," Boyton said.
He's worked in a number of different jobs from practice management in the medical field to stockbroking. When he moved to the Golden Isles, he wore the hat of instructor at the STAR Foundation, which offers workforce training programs to residents. During the eight years he spent there, he simultaneously volunteered at the Seafarers' Center.
That turned out to be a more interesting journey than he imagined. He got an up-close look at the massive vessels, most of which are around 656 feet long.
According to statistics from the last 10 years, the port welcomes thousands of sailors and officers annually from over two dozen countries. While most are from the Philippines, others hail from India, Burma, Bulgaria, Mexico and the Republic of Kiribati.
"I didn't know about it (Kiribati) until I met them (crewmembers)," Boyton said. "It's a country about the same size as the U.S. but it's in the Pacific Ocean. It's a bunch of atolls and an island."
The sailors and officers get a little time off while the stevedores load and unload the ships. The Seafarers' Center tries to make their stay more comfortable and relaxing.
Not far from where the ships dock, there's a little shop where volunteers sell a variety of items from hygiene products to snacks, many straight from the Philippines.
"It's a very lonely job. The Filipino guys we see mostly, their contracts are for eight to 10 months a year and they get a few months off." Boyton said. "So that's all they see. The Ro/Ro (vehicle and heavy equipment carriers) ships are pretty nice, but the bulk cargos are a lot smaller."
Thinking back on his time as a volunteer, Boyton said one of his more rewarding experiences was helping a Filipino sailor to finally get some shore leave after 18 months. He had been quarantined at home between his shipping contracts and hadn't been off a ship in more than a year.
Taking him around town and showing him the area was one of the more rewarding interactions he's had, but Boyton said every ship brings in crew and opportunities to connect with.
Cheering up crew members and making them feel important is what the center is all about, he said, and it's that part that appeals to him.
"Because they are important. Without the, those cars wouldn't have gotten here," Boyton said.
For more information on volunteering with the International Seafarers' Center, call 912-267-0631 or check out the volunteer tab on our website.