On July 10th, 17 young people from PBHA South Boston Outreach Summer set sail to Georges Island on Bay State Cruise Company’s flagship Provincetown II for one of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s free All Access Boston Harbor cruises. These youth and teens enjoyed a day filled with fun, fishing, environmental exploration and songs and stories of the sea. Over the course of the summer, All Access Boston Harbor will connect more than 10,000 youth and teens to the Boston Harbor Islands from more than 100 youth development and community organizations.
Save the Harbor’s free trips connect young people from all Boston’s neighborhoods and from 40 cities and towns across the region to the Boston Harbor Islands State and National Park where they learn the history of Boston Harbor and the Harbor cleanup, explore all the islands have to offer, and enjoy Boston’s spectacular urban natural resources. “What a great way to spend a summer day,” said Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy and Communications at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. “The Harbor Islands are truly Boston’s treasure, and we’re certain that the 200,000 kids and families that have attended these free trips since we began them in 2002 would agree.” On the island, kids from Phillips Brooks House explored the maze of passageways at Fort Warren, a historic landmark used for coastal defense during the Civil War, with Save the Harbor’s Youth Environmental Education staff. The docks on the island offered fantastic fishing spots while the parade ground offered the perfect space for sports, games and other healthy outdoor activities.
“At Save the Harbor/Save the Bay we are particularly proud to serve as the Boston Harbor Connection for a generation of young people,” said Save the Harbor/Save the Bay President, Patricia Foley. “The best way we can “save the harbor” is to share the harbor with the public.”
These free programs have introduced more than 200,000 young people to Boston Harbor and the Islands since they began in 2002. Save the Harbor/Save the Bay looks forward to their most exciting summer yet on the water with free activities, such as the All Access trips, that share Boston Harbor with thousands of residents across Boston.
“All of us at Save the Harbor want to thank our partners at Bay State Cruise Company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, The Boston Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation, and Distrigas/ENGIE for the Leadership Grants that make our youth environmental education and family programs possible,” said Berman from the wheelhouse. “Special thanks as well to everyone who joined us on the cruise, and the hundreds of individual donors for their generosity and to our partners at the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Metropolitan Beaches Commission, the Boston Centers for Youth and Families and the YMCA of Greater Boston for their support,” said Berman. “It means the world to us and all of those we serve.”
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is a non-profit public-interest environmental advocacy organization for Boston Harbor, whose mission is to restore and protect Boston Harbor, the Boston Harbor Islands, our region’s beaches and the marine environment and share them with the public for everyone to enjoy. For more information about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, visit their website at www.savetheharbor.org, their blog Sea, Sand & Sky at www.blog.savetheharbor.org or follow their social @savetheharbor.
