Record Number of Sailors Anticipated for Christmas Day Gathering
December 23, 2008
First Baptist Church of Hammond will host as many as 500 sailors from the Naval Station Great Lakes this Christmas Day, offering home-cooked food, video games, and sports activities. Five-hundred visitors for dinner would make this year's gathering the largest of its kind since the church began hosting the sailors five years ago.
As was done at Thanksgiving, dozens of members from the First Baptist Church of Hammond have donated turkeys, hams, pies, and other goodies to feed sailors who are unable to go home for Christmas. The Servicemen's Ministry and Brian Cassada, a former Air Force captain, will be serving these men and women throughout the day. A huge team of First Baptist church volunteers is also being assembled to provide a little Christmas spirit for these homesick sailors.
In addition to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desserts, the sailors will be able to play basketball and football, enjoy national sports on big-screen TVs, and make complimentary calls home to talk with loved ones.
