September 26, 2013
Thursday PM

To Whom It May Concern:

As you may be aware, Cruise with a Mission, a ministry of the Center for Youth Evangelism in Berrien Springs, Michigan, was aboard the m/s Oosterdam (a Holland America Line ship) the week of September 15-21. Our itinerary was supposed to take us through Ketchikan on September 20. Unfortunately, due to poor weather conditions we were unable to make the stop at Ketchikan's port. We were saddened by the news that we would no longer be able to visit your community, as we had no control over our schedule onboard and had made arrangements to conduct service projects in the community during our short time there.

Plans were to work with Ketchikan Youth Initiatives (KYI), a local organization. Their goal was that we would be able to demonstrate to the local youth the value in being involved in their community. We were excited about the visit, though we would only be there for a few hours.

Though it is unfortunate we were unable to visit, our plans were not all for naught! We found out after we returned home that many of the projects that had been coordinated will still be completed; and by local KYI partners, including the youth and other community members.

We wish to express our heartfelt thanks to Bobbie McCreary and Ketchikan Youth Initiatives for their support and coordination for our recent visit. We hope that although we were not able to share our physical support, our mission can live on in the lives of the youth and other community members there.

Best wishes to you and your community!

Richard A. Parke,
Director, Cruise with a Mission
Berrien Springs, MI

About: "Cruise with a Mission is a young-adult driven organization based out of Michigan with young adult members all across the country. Yearly, these young adults take 7 days out of their busy lives to board a cruise ship. A good part of the focus of Cruise with a Mission is service to the local communities during port stops on the trip. For additional information visit www.cruisewithamission.org."

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