On Saturday, June 9, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) awarded over $32,000 in small grants to South Boston community organizations that will support free summer beach events throughout South Boston as part of Save the Harbor’s annual Better Beaches Program. Grantees include Curley Community Center Council, South Boston Neighborhood House, Mass Kiting, City Point Neighborhood Association, YES, South Boston Leadership Initiative, and Boston Beach Soccer who will host events such as the Annual L Street Night, Summer Fishing Programs, Family Fun Nights, Olliepalooza, Youth Fitness Programs, and the 4th Annual International Kiteboarding Film Festival.
This year’s Better Beaches Program grants will support free concerts and kayaking, family beach festivals and movie nights, youth beach parties, songs and stories by the sea, and art on the shore in the region’s beachfront communities of Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull, bringing more than 1 million people back to the beach.
You can find a complete list of this year’s grant recipients on Save the Harbor’s youth and beach blog, Sea, Sand & Sky at http://blog.savetheharbor.org/2018/06/better-beaches-2018.html
“One of the best ways to “Save the Harbor” is to “Share the Harbor” with the region’s kids and families,” said Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy & Communications at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. “These events create excitement and new stewards for our region’s public beaches, who understand the value of these extraordinary urban natural resources to all of us and our communities.
With the support of The Boston Circus Guild, this year’s line-up also includes 10 free Life’s A Beach Festivals, featuring trapeze artists, acrobats and jugglers, as well Save the Harbors troupe of costumed storytellers, performing pirates, a community art project by environmental artist Robin Reed and mandalas in the sand by intertidal artist Andres Amador.
| Life’s A Beach Festivals:
· Saturday June 30, 2018 Discover Quincy and Friends of Wollaston Beach 12th Annual Kids Festival at Wollaston Beach · July 14, 2018 Winthrop Chamber of Commerce Family Fun Day at Yirrell Beach · Friday July 27, 2017 South Boston Neighborhood House Youth Beach Bash and Splash at Carson Beach · Saturday July 28, 2017 Friends of Lynn and Nahant Beach Kids Fest at Red Rock Park · Saturday August 11, 2017 Port Norfolk Civic Association Tenean Beach Day at Tenean Beach · Saturday August 25, 2017 Friends of Savin Hill Shores Dorchester Beach Day at Malibu Beach · Saturday September 15, 2017 Hull Nantasket Chamber of Commerce Endless Summer Festival at Nantasket Beach/Reservation · TBA East Boston YMCA Summer Festival |
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay would like to thank the Baker- Polito Administration and Metropolitan Beaches Commission Co-Chairs Representative RoseLee Vincent and Senator Brendan Crighton and the legislative and community members of the Commission, as well as and our partners at the Department of Conservation and Recreation for making this great program possible.
“Co-Chair Vincent of Revere and I and all the members of the Metropolitan Beaches Commission want to thank Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and their partners in the region’s waterfront neighborhoods and beachfront communities for making this another great year on the beach,” said MBC Co-Chair Senator Brendan Crighton. “Thanks to all of you, life will be a beach in 2018.”
“The Baker-Polito Administration is proud to work collaboratively with organizations like Save the Harbor/Save the Bay in an effort to ensure the Commonwealth’s state beaches and other parks and reservations remain popular destinations for residents and tourists alike,” said DCR Commissioner Leo Roy. “The Better Beaches Program serves as a great example of a strong partnership that will directly impact visitors of some of the state’s most popular beaches.”
Save the Harbor also thanks our Better Beaches Program sponsors, Harpoon Brewery, JetBlue, and the Boston Circus Guild, and the hundreds of participants and donors to the Harpoon Shamrock Splash, which has raised more than $250,000 to support free beach events since it began in 2011.
“At JetBlue, we are committed to our community and fun is one of our core values,” said Donnie Todd, Corporate Responsibility Liaison for JetBlue, who led a team of 30 participants in this year’s splash. “More than 3,000 JetBlue crewmembers call Boston home, we cherish our harbor and proudly support Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and the work they do on the region’s public beaches.”
We would also like to thank our policy and program partners at The Boston Foundation, the Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation, P&G Gillette, National Grid, Comcast, Beacon Capital Partners, New England Picture, Mix 104.1, Boston Centers for Youth & Families, The YMCA of Greater Boston, The Daily Catch Seaport, Baja Taco Truck, and the Blue Sky Collaborative for their support.
For more information about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay visit their website at www.savetheharbor.org You can find out more about this year’s Better Beaches program on their youth and beach blog, Sea, Sand & Sky at http://blog.savetheharbor.org and by following savetheharbor on social media.
