NOLA Port Ministry Honors Wright, Tillery

New Orleans-based Global Maritime Ministries held its annual Lighthouse Gala September 25 at the Audubon Tea Room in Uptown New Orleans. The event served as both a fundraiser for Global Maritime and an occasion to honor the organization’s humanitarian of the year and maritime person of the year.

The Rev. John P. Vandercook founded the organization 60 years ago as a ministry to serve seafarers working aboard ships calling on the deepwater ports of the Lower Mississippi River. Six decades later, his son, the Rev. Philip Vandercook, serves as executive director of the organization, which is headquartered in a ministry center on Tchoupitoulas Street, just across from the Port of New Orleans’ Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal.

Global Maritime’s humanitarian award, named after the elder Vandercook, went to Sgt. Logan Tillery with the New Orleans Harbor Police Department (HPD).

“This award is presented each year to someone in the maritime community who not only has demonstrated excellence in what they do but also has gone over and above in the selfless service to others,” Phillip Vandercook said. “As you can imagine, this is a very special award and I’m very honored to be able to present this. I know that my father would be very proud of this year’s recipient.”

Vandercook then described how on April 30 police officers responded to reports of a young man on the Crescent City Connection bridge over the Mississippi River in New Orleans threatening to jump from the bridge.

“While on scene, officers observed the juvenile walking atop the highest beam on the CCC,” Vandercook said. “HPD crisis negotiator Sgt. Tillery arrived on scene and was able to develop a rapport with the juvenile. After taking some time to talk to him, he was finally able to calm him down and talk him down from the beam. The juvenile was able to be transported to the hospital safely to get the medical attention that he needed.”

Vandercook then honored Tillery for “his heroic and selfless actions” and also recognized the fellow officers who responded.

In a statement, New Orleans Harbor Police Chief Melanie Montroll said, “Sgt. Logan Tillery exemplifies the courage, compassion and professionalism that define the Harbor Police Department. His ability to connect the young person in crisis and bring them to safety is a powerful reminder of the impact our officers can have beyond the badge. I am incredibly proud of his heroic actions.”

In receiving the award, Tillery was fast to reflect praise on his fellow officers.

“Anybody who knows me knows that I take pride in being a selfless person,” he said. “That being said, this award isn’t just for me. It’s for the people who stood beside me. … I pray that we keep showing up together, because together you can make the world a better place, one act at a time.”

Vandercook then introduced Global Maritime’s second honor, the Crystal Lighthouse Award, given to the maritime person of the year. For 2025, that person was state Rep. Mark Wright, who serves the state’s District 77 in Covington. In his role in the state House, Wright played a key role in establishing the Louisiana Ports and Waterways Investment Commission (LPWIC), which has been instrumental in developing a strategic marketing strategy for the state’s ports. In addition, Wright is a former regional vice president for The American Waterways Operators (AWO).

Reflecting on his career, Wright reminisced about his time with AWO.

“Some of the best years of my life was working in the towboat and barge industry, because it game me a chance to meet a lot of mariners in brown water and with the Coast Guard,” Wright said. “That’s one of my favorite agencies. Good people there.”

Wright talked about, from a political perspective, always seeing how Louisiana struggled to come together for a coordinated effort to develop the state’s ports and waterways. In many ways, the tide turned when the state’s governor, Jeff Landry, took office in January 2024. Since then, not only was LPWIC formed but also the state is taking steps to establish its own maritime academy.

“I just have a hopeful feeling about it all,” Wright said. “I’m super grateful to just be a part of it.”

And while he spent much of his career working with brown water mariners, he also recognized the crucial role Global Maritime plays with assisting blue water mariners.

“Our international mariners have a tough, tough life and certainly are in need of some comfort and the Lord touching them,” Wright said. “I’m definitely grateful to play a role in that tonight.”

Vandercook and Stephen McKinney, assistant executive director of Global Maritime, also recognized a pair of volunteers, Charlie and Cheryl Ray, with the inaugural volunteers of the year award. McKinney described Charlie Ray as the ministry center’s “post master,” while Vandercook praised Cheryl Ray for serving seafarers and making “the world’s best bread pudding.”

Former maritime person of the year and humanitarian of the year award recipients include Big River Coalition Executive Direct Sean Duffy; Gary LaGrange, former president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans; Phil Schifflin, director of the Seamen’s Church Institute’s Center for Mariner Advocacy; and Capt. Ronald Branch, president of the Louisiana Maritime Association.

Global Maritime Ministries offers chaplaincy services, transportation, food, mail services and vessel visits for seafarers within the ports of South Louisiana, New Orleans and St. Bernard.

Featured image caption: La. State Rep. Mark Wright, who represents Covington, La., receives Global Maritime Ministries’ Crystal Lighthouse Award, which recognizes the organization’s maritime person of the year. (Photo by Tracie Morris Schaefer)