As the 50-meter Sanam pulled into Italian port, first officer Sam Stewart spotted a coastguard boat tied to the dock, packed with asylum seekers who had made the perilous journey from North Africa. “We had six guests on the aft deck drinking cocktails,” Sam recalls. “Seeing those two polar opposite worlds in the same moment was one of the most gut-wrenching feelings I’ve ever had.” It was this moment that inspired Sam to launch the Relief Crew Foundation, a new non-profit dedicated to pairing yacht crew with vetted volunteer opportunities.
After nearly two years of volunteering in a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos, Sam realized that yacht crew, with their practical skills and hands-on mindset, could provide invaluable support to humanitarian organizations. “They’re used to working with their hands, they’re used to working long hours and getting stuck in,” he says.
The Relief Crew Foundation connects crew members with reputable, vetted organizations, eliminating the guesswork involved in finding trustworthy volunteer opportunities. “It’s just this massive rabbit hole,” Sam says. “The whole idea behind Relief Crew is that we take that guesswork out. We remove those barriers.”
Currently, the Relief Crew Foundation is wrapping up a successful project in Morocco, where volunteers have been helping to rebuild in an earthquake-affected village. The work has provided much-needed support to the local community, with crew offering their skills to assist in the rebuilding efforts.
The foundation's next big project will kick off this month in northern Ghana, where crew will help build 51 toilets for a rural village lacking modern sanitation. “Specific knowledge in areas like carpentry would be great on this project,” Sam says. “But as with any project, typical crew skills and attitude will be the main thing that’s needed.” This project will involve manual labor under a hot sun, but Sam promises that the rewards will be great.
The Relief Crew Foundation is making a significant impact by enabling yacht crew to use their skills for meaningful work, while fostering global responsibility within the yachting industry.
For more information or to get involved, visit reliefcrewfoundation.org.