This summer, a group from Jordan Boys and Girls Club of Chelsea joined Save the Harbor/Save the Bay on a all access Boston Harbor cruise to Spectacle Island aboard the Bay State Cruise Company’s flagship, Provincetown II.
These youth started the trip cruising the cool, clean waters of the Boston Harbor, learning sea chanteys and history about the Harbor cleanup. Once on the island, Jordan Boys and Girls Club spent the day fishing, crabbing, and exploring 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 more than 10,000 kids and families that will attend these free trips this year will agree.”
Save the Harbor’s free trips allow young people from all Boston’s neighborhoods, and from 40 cities and towns across the region, to experience the Boston Harbor Islands State and National Park where they can fully learn, explore, and enjoy all that the islands and harbor have to offer.
On Spectacle the Chelsea youth were taught by Save the Harbor’s Youth Environmental Education Staff how to fish for flounder, skates, and the occasional striped bass from the pier. Kids also explored the shore looking for sea glass and historic artifacts from Spectacle’s “Treasure Beach.”
“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.”
Over the course of the summer, All Access Boston Harbor connects more than 10,000 youth and teens to the Boston Harbor Islands from more than 100 youth development and community organizations. Save the Harbor/Save the Bay hosts and funds a variety of events on the water and the beaches 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.
“Save the Harbor is grateful for Partnership Grants from Boston Properties – Atlantic Wharf, Eastern Salt Company, Inc., Fan Pier – The Fallon Company, John Hancock Financial Services, The HYM Investment Group, LLC, The Llewellyn Foundation, Massachusetts Bay Lines, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Massachusetts Port Authority, National Grid Foundation, P&G Gillette, Lawrence J. and Anne Rubenstein Charitable Foundation, William E. & Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust, Vertex, and The Yawkey Foundation,” he continued.
“Save the Harbor also appreciates Stewardship Grants from The Paul and Edith Babson Foundation, Forrest Berkley and Marcie Tyre Berkley, Blue Hills Bank Foundation, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, Camp Harbor View Foundation, Circle Furniture, Comcast, Copeland Family Foundation, Inc., The Cricket Foundation, Cronin Group, LLC, The Daily Catch Seaport, Elizabeth Elser Doolittle Charitable Trust, Enbridge, Tom and Lucinda Foley, Foundation for Sustainability & Innovation, Liberty Bay Credit Union, Lovett-Woodsum Foundation, Maine Community Foundation, Mass Humanities, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Nicholson Foundation, RMR Real Estate Services, Clinton H. and Wilma T. Shattuck Charitable Trust, Skanska, South Boston, Community Development Foundation, Abbot and Dorothy H. Stevens Foundation, and Tishman Speyer.
“Save the Harbor would also like to thank our Program Funders 3A Marine Service, Andus Baker & Rowan Murphy Family Fund, The Bay State Federal Savings Charitable Foundation, Beacon Capital Partners, LLC, Boston Bruins Foundation, Andrew J. Calamare and Marianne Connolly, CannonDesign, Circle Furniture, Kevin and Dee Colcord, Dark Horse Capital Partners, Diversified Automotive, Eversource, Tom and Lucinda Foley, Fort Point Framers, Goulston & Storrs PC, Legal Sea Foods, Miss Wallace M. Leonard Foundation, George Lewis – Haven Trust, Liberty Bay Credit Union, Mass Bay Credit Union, Massachusetts Marine Educational Trust, National Park Service, Randy Peeler and Kate Kellogg, SKW Partners, Inc., Abbot and Dorothy H. Stevens Foundation, Storm Duds, Matthew J. and Gilda F. Strazzula Foundation, TD Charitable Foundation, UDR, Kyle & Sara Warwick, and Winthrop Parks and Recreation.”
“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.