Maritime Workers Hero Sponsors

The Maritime Workers Emergency Medical Fund

“The maritime industry, and the people that work in our industry, need an organization that can provide limited financial assistance to their family during major catastrophic medical emergencies.” This was the dream of Jerry Nagel during his many years battling his many medical operations and final lung transplant that took his life in 2012. Jerry wanted to ensure those maritime employees and their families had someplace to turn to assist with the many bills and hardships, not covered by insurance, created by a catastrophic illness like he and his family had to endure!

In 2011 he was awarded the Breakbulk Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2012 the Greater Houston Port Bureau recognized Jerry Nagel as Maritime Person of the Year. It has been said that Jerry had two great passions outside of family and the maritime industry, and those were maritime education and the Houston Maritime Museum. Jerry found the most fulfilling experiences in life were those where he was doing, creating and building. That’s when you saw him at his best. His credo was” say what you can do, then do what you say.” This fund will carry on his legacy!

His dream has been realized with the formation of The Maritime Workers Emergency Medical Fund. The fund is a Texas non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization committed to fulfilling his dream and giving maritime workers of the Texas gulf coast an organization to apply for assistance during times of personal medical crisis.