JetBlue Shamrock Splash

On Sunday, March 12th at noon, more than 170 “Shamrock Splashers” hit the cold, clean water at Constitution Beach in East Boston and raised more than $57,000 to support Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s Better Beaches Program partnership with the Department of Conservation & Recreation. 

Participants won prizes for biggest fundraiser and best costumes, including flights on JetBlue and great swag from Harpoon Brewery, The Daily Catch chowder, Harpoon beer, lawn games with Volo and mocktails from Namastay Sober and Topo Chico after their splash.

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s Executive Director Chris Mancini thanked their program partners and event sponsors, JetBlue, Harpoon Brewery, FMC Ice Sports, Volo, P&G Gillette, National Grid, Coast Cannabis, the Daily Catch, Comcast, Mix 104.1, The Blue Sky Collaborative, Namastay Sober, Topo Chico, BostonHarbor.com, The Boston Foundation, and The Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation. 

Mancini thanked Metropolitan Beaches Commission Co-Chairs Senator Brendan Crighton of Lynn, and Representative Adrian Madaro of East Boston and the legislative and community members of the Commission for their support for our beaches and our communities. He also thanked the Healy-Driscoll Administration, the Massachusetts Legislature, Save the Harbor's partners at the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Boston Centers for Youth & Families, the YMCA of Greater Boston, and the hundreds of people who took part in the Shamrock Splash for their support.

Here's a screenshot of the leader board which you can find at www.shamrocksplash.org.  

Proceeds from this year’s Shamrock Splash will be invested in free events and programs on the metropolitan region’s public beaches in Nahant, Lynn, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy, and Hull. You can find out more on their website at www.savetheharbor.org

A Successful Kickoff to the Splash Season!

Last Tuesday, members of our waterfront communities and local organizations joined Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) at Harpoon Brewery to kickoff the annual Shamrock Splash! Participants at the kickoff created teams and started fundraising with support from fellow community members, all while enjoying Harpoon beverages and pretzels.

Every year, community members, local leaders, and familiar faces splash into the cold water of Boston Harbor to raise tens of thousands of dollars to support Save the Harbor's Better Beaches Program in partnership with the DCR.

Individuals and organizations interested in receiving Better Beaches grants attended the event to meet other prior and prospective grantees and to learn more about the grant from Save the Harbor staff. DCR staff was present to help participants learn about the beaches and the guidelines for beach events, and to answer any questions.

If you or your organization has a great idea for a beach event, apply for a Better Beaches grant here!

To participate in the JetBlue Shamrock Splash, make a team, and raise money for fun beach events in your community, register here!

Dorchester Bay City Project Public Meeting on Public Realm and Resiliency

Join us to provide comments on Dorchester Bay City's plans for public benefits in open space and climate resiliency. 

This is a terrific opportunity to hear their plans, and provide constructive comments on our hopes, wants and needs for a project with extensive opportunity for public benefits.

Great public spaces make a great city, but they don’t happen by accident. They require careful thought, hard work, attention to detail and perseverance. They also require your participation!

Click here to register for the February 7, 2023 Public Meeting from 6:00pm-8:00pm

Can’t attend live? Submit comment letters here. 

To request live interpretation at the Listening Session please email Caitlin.Coppinger@Boston.gov no later than 5 days prior to the meeting date.

About the Dorchester Bay City Project

The 36-acre site is designed to create a balanced neighborhood with a mix of uses that includes affordable housing and prioritizes an inclusive ground floor experience, new pedestrian and bike access, multiple open spaces with different programming opportunities, and flexible retail spaces to create opportunity and support small, local and MBE/WBE owned businesses.

The Project transforms underutilized urban sites currently occupied by obsolete office buildings and surface parking lots -- marked by a dearth of trees, open space and pervious areas -- into a vibrant and inclusive, transit-oriented, resilient and sustainable mixed-use community that is welcoming to all.  Consistent with the goals of the Columbia Point Master Plan, the project creates:

·       A system of pedestrian and bike-friendly streets that connect people to transit resources, open space resources, and each other

·       A mix of buildings where people can work, live, and play

·       Multi-modal, improved access to major open spaces in the area and the resources of Dorchester Bay

·       Diversity of housing types can attract individuals, couples, and families from many backgrounds

·       Diverse and inclusive retail available to all

Dorchester Bay City focuses on the importance of creating a development that will knit together nearby neighborhoods isolated by the site’s current surface parking lots and allow those neighborhoods to enjoy improved access to the water, park, beach, and Harborwalk, which define this community.

Throughout the Project, public open space and other design elements serve dual purposes and enhance the resiliency of the Project site and the surrounding community, address the risk of sea level rise and reduce heat island effects.  

By raising the Project Site to an elevation of 21.5-feet± BCB and creating a raised ridge at 22.7- feet BCB extending from the southern boundary of the site northward to Day Boulevard, these resiliency improvements both assure that the Project can withstand future sea level rise and protect the surrounding neighborhood from potential flooding events.  

With $5,000,000 in funding for a flood protection on DCR Land adjacent to the Harbor Point Apartments as specified in the Climate Ready Dorchester Plan (provided during Phase One to DCR), the Project also carefully considers the needs of our neighbors and the community beyond our site boundaries.  This includes completing an evaluation of the connection between the Project, DCR's Dorchester Shores Reservation behind Carson Beach, and the future Moakley Park flood protection systems.  In total, approximately $18.5 will be invested in off-site resiliency efforts.

The Project employs sustainable design principles to reduce the project’s carbon footprint and contribute to the state and city’s 2050 carbon-free goals by converting 36 acres of asphalt park lots into urban mix-use developments near transit with various open and green spaces, a new stormwater management system. These new open spaces with approximately 1,000 new trees will prevent the urban heat island effect while contributing to the city’s Urban Forest Plan and Heat Resilience Solutions for Boston Plan initiatives. 

The Project’s site-level and building-level sustainability design principles will reduce energy demand generated by buildings and GHG emissions. At a site level, the developers committed to SITES Certification and LEED ND Gold Certification design standards. Building level commitments include all residential buildings to be designed at a minimum of LEED Gold and 25% of Commercial buildings (except ground floor retail) to be designed at LEED Platinum, and 75% of Commercial buildings to be designed at minimum LEED Gold design standards.

Additionally, the project will include approximately 3,700 indoor bicycle parking spaces for buildings and 476 outdoor public parking spaces to further encourage people to use sustainable transportation modes.

Read more here!

Board Highlight: Jason Sandoval

Save the Harbor board member Jason Sandoval lives in the small city of Melrose, Massachusetts with his wife and two kids. He spends most of his free time with his family, attending local events, helping out at his children’s school and taking day trips to nearby cities. But at his core, he loves a great party. “I love to plan a good time for people,” he said. 

With a party planner personality, it's no surprise Sandoval found himself working in the live entertainment industry. Sandoval is currently General Manager at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, and has served as General Manager at four different venues.

His love for music and event planning drives his work. "The underlying goal is to provide a great experience for people to connect with music,” Sandoval said.

Prior to the Xfinity Center, Sandoval worked as General Manager at the Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston’s Seaport, where Save the Harbor’s All Access Boston Harbor program kicks off each week in the summer. His predecessor, James Jensen, had been on Save the Harbor’s Board of Directors and initially provided access to the Leader Bank Pavilion for Save the Harbor’s youth programs. 

“The venue is open, accessible, and at a great location for the youth program to meet up with a wonderful backdrop of the harbor,” Sandoval said. “I was happy to toe the line.”

The ability to use such a landmark as the Leader Bank Pavilion is incredibly valuable to our youth programs, as hundreds of young people navigate their way down to the waterfront each week to take part in our free community group cruise program. The pavilion is the perfect venue for our daily orientation to Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands. 

When Sandoval took over as General Manager of the Leader Bank Pavilion, he was recommended by Jensen to be on Save the Harbor's Board of Directors. Sandoval was immediately interested. He has always been passionate about the beach, stemming from his childhood growing up in Southern California.

“I grew up always having access to beaches. Being in California, although there are certain areas that are not as diverse, the beach was pretty diverse. That's kind of one of the basic principles to Save the Harbor’s work.”

Sandoval enjoys working with Save the Harbor because he understands the value of experiencing the water, having grown up regularly visiting the beach. “I think it's a great organization, because it continues to bring people to the water and the beaches in New England. I think that's a cool thing to work with the youth, especially youth that may not necessarily be coming to the water and trying to encourage that.”

When Sandoval moved to the Mansfield Xfinity Center, he was sure to pass on the important partnership between Save the Harbor and Leader Bank Pavilion onto his successor so that thousands of children are able to experience the accessible waterfront spaces that the Seaport has to offer.

Save the Harbor attends the 2022 Earthshot Prize Awards

On December 2nd, four Save the Harbor/Save the Bay staff members attended the second annual Earshot Prize Awards at the MGM Music Hall in Boston. Founded in 2020 by Prince William and the Royal Foundation, the prize honors startups, entrepreneurs, and businesses who have solutions to the climate crisis. 

The Boston Harbor Women of Color Coalition (BHWOCC), founded by Save the Harbor staff members Joye Williams and Maya Smith, was part of the host committee for Friday's event. 

"The Boston Harbor Women of Color Coalition was absolutely honored to join the Earthshot Host Committee," said Joye Williams, Director of Operations at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and Co-founder of BHWOCC. "It was gratifying and awe-inspiring to witness the global innovative work being done to repair our planet. Their work makes us optimistic about the future and has reenergized our own commitment to our shared environment."

"It was such an honor to attend The Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony,” said María Rodriguez Ortega, Public Policy Coordinator at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. “My experience attending this event felt inspiring and hopeful for a climate-resilient Earth. The innovative work being done by the finalists and winners in the 5 different categories is crucial to making a global impact toward reducing our carbon emissions by 2030." 

Prince William and Princess Kate were on-site, hosting the event. Other notable celebrity appearances were from Rami Malek, Catherine O'Hara, Shailene Woodley and David Beckham, with live performances by Annie Lennox, Chloe x Halle, and Ellie Goulding.

The winners of the Earthshot prize were Mukuru Clean Stoves, for bringing clean stoves to Kenya to reduce air pollution, Kheyti, for creating modular greenhouses for farmers in India, The Queensland Indigenous Women Rangers Network, for training women in modern conservation techniques in Austrailia, Notpla, for creating biodegradable seaweed-based packaging in the U.K., and The 44.01 Project, for turning Co2 emissions into igneous rock in Oman. 

Malene Welch, Save the Harbor Board Member and Co-founder of BHWOCC was also present at the event. 

"The Earthshot Prize award finalists are doing vital work protecting and restoring nature, cleaning our air, reviving our oceans, building a waste-free world, and fixing our climate," Welch said. "Hearing about their solutions and the stories behind them makes me optimistic about the future of our planet and re-energized to get back to work on local solutions with the Boston Harbor Women of Color Coalition and Save the Harbor/Save the Bay."

Save the Harbor wants your ideas for free beach events!

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is dedicating $25,000 to make your dream event happen this summer on the region’s public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket. Your participation is necessary to make this summer the best one yet. Save the Harbor’s participatory budgeting process has already begun, so submit your ideas here.

Save the Harbor will host the five events that receive the most votes from the community. These events will take place on our region’s public beaches in Nahant, Lynn, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy, and Hull. The goal of participatory budgeting is to center community voices by asking the public what events they want to see on the region’s beaches. With this process, Save the Harbor hopes to bridge access to the beach by engaging communities that may face significant challenges accessing the beach.

“Community members across the state share ownership of so many incredible beaches, so it is exciting to create programming that empowers people to harness that ownership and entrust the community with directly selecting a variety of events that make people feel genuinely excited to get outside and experience programs that reflects them, said Maya Smith, Partnerships and Program Development Director at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay.”

In 2022, Save the Harbor centered community voices by distributing $25,000 of Better Beaches funds through a participatory budgeting process. Over 200 community members submitted ideas for the free events they wanted to see on the beaches this summer. More than 600 people voted on the winners: the Teen Beach Bash in South Boston, the Beats on the Beach Block Party in Dorchester, the Diversity Matters Festival in Lynn, which connected thousands of youth, families and community members to the beach to experience free, fun and accessible summertime activities.

 

“We hope to center the voices of people of color, people with disabilities, and non-native English speakers,” said Maria Rodriguez Ortega, Public Policy Coordinator at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. “These groups face barriers that prevent them from enjoying our region’s beaches due to discrimination and limited access. We strive to make our beautiful natural resources welcoming, safe, and accessible to all.”

Idea collection and voting are open for community members of all ages who live in Massachusetts or use Department of Conservation and Recreation beaches. To have your idea considered for the ballot, please create an idea that can be free and open to the public, can take place in Summer 2023, and complies with DCR beach usage guidelines. We will be prioritizing events that center people of color, people with disabilities, people who do not primarily communicate in English, and other groups that do not currently have equitable access to the waterfront.

To submit your idea for a free beach event, fill out the form here. You can also fill out the form here, translatable into over 100 languages.

Save the Harbor will be collecting ideas until January 27th. These ideas will be used to create a ballot to be voted on by the public. Voting will take place from February 5th to March 6th. The winners will be announced at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s Annual Shamrock Splash in partnership with Harpoon Brewery on March 12th.

The work we do at Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay would not be possible without the support of our Youth Program funders, including Bay State Cruise Company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA, The Coca-Cola Company, Department of Conservation and Recreation, Massachusetts Bay Lines, Eastern Salt Company, Inc., Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Harpoon Brewery, JetBlue, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, National Grid, Richard M. Saltonstall Charitable Foundation, Alexandria, The Boston Foundation, Boston Properties – Atlantic Wharf, Camp Harbor View Foundation, Cell Signaling Technology, City of Boston Department of Youth, Engagement & Employment, Comcast Foundation, Cronin Group, LLC, Exelon Generation, Goody Clancy, Hood Business Park, HYM Investment Group, Income Research and Management Charitable Fund, John Hancock Financial Services, Leader Bank Pavilion/Live Nation, Maine Community Foundation, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, National Development, National Grid Foundation.

To view our full list of youth program sponsors, visit blog.savetheharbor.org/2022/07/thanks-to-our-2022-youth-program 

Save the Harbor's Executive Director leads tour of South Bay Harbor Trail

On Tuesday, November 1st, UMass Transportation Center hosted the 2022 Moving Together Conference. The conference featured panels on transportation topics, networking, and interactive, on-site mobile workshops led by engineers and local advocates. Chris Mancini, Executive Director of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, was featured as a local environmental expert and advocate, leading the mobile workshop along the South Bay Harbor trail.

Mancini also appeared in the 2021 Moving Together Conference, which was held virtually. You can experience his 2021 tour of the South Bay Harbor Trail in the video below.

Register Today for Save the Harbor/Save the Bay's Free Fall Cruises to the Boston Harbor Islands

More than 5,000 kids set sail to Spectacle and Georges on Bay State Cruise Company's
flagship Provincetown II and Mass Bay Lines Freedom as part ofSave The Harbor/Save the Bay's
free All Access Boston Harbor and Share the Harbor Program expansion.

So far this year more than 5,000 people from 30 communities joined Save the Harbor/Save the Bay on free Marine Mammal Safaris in April, and free trips to Spectacle and Georges Island three days a week this summer as part of their expanded Share the Harbor and All Access Boston Harbor programs.

Though the summer is nearly over, the free fun on Boston Harbor will continue well into the fall.

In September and October, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay will host three free day trips to Spectacle Island from 10am - 2:30PM on Sunday September 18th, Sunday September 25th, and Sunday October 2nd. They will also host three free Sunset Cruises towards Boston Light from 5:30pm - 7:30pm on Tuesday September 27th, Wednesday September 28th, and Saturday October 15th.

“Our free island adventures and harbor cruises give kids and families who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience these beautiful natural resources firsthand," said Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s Executive Director Chris Mancini. “All of us are proud to share our spectacular harbor, beaches and islands with everyone.”

Mancini expects these trips to fill up fast, and urges people to make their reservation today at https://tinyurl.com/sharetheharborcruise2022.

“These free trips to the Boston Harbor Islands are my favorite part of our programs,” said Kristen Barry, Deputy Executive Director at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. “No matter what community they come from or what group they are a part of, people always come back to shore with new experiences and a fresh perspective.”

These free Share the Harbor cruises are made possible with leadership support and partnership from Cronin Development, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Massachusetts Office of Environmental Protection, Bay State Cruise Company, and Mass Bay Lines.

According to Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s Director of Development Patricia Salic, “The work Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay does would not be possible without the support of our 2022 Youth Program Champions, including the Liberty Mutual Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA, The Coca-Cola Company, Eastern Salt Company, Inc., National Grid, Comcast Foundation, Constellation Generation, John Hancock Financial Services and JetBlue.

"We are also grateful to our Youth Program Sponsors the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Alexandria, The Boston Foundation, Boston Consulting Group, Boston Properties – Atlantic Wharf, Camp Harbor View Foundation, Cell Signaling Technology, City of Boston Department of Youth, Engagement & Employment, Comcast Foundation, Cronin Group, LLC, Exelon Generation, Goody Clancy, Hood Business Park, HYM Investment Group, Income Research and Management Charitable Fund, Leader Bank Pavilion/Live Nation, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Massport, National Development, National Grid Foundation and Vertex."

You can find a full list of Save the Harbor’s 2022 Youth Program Funders at http://blog.savetheharbor.org/2022/07/thanks-to-our-2022-youth-program.html 

To find out more about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and the work they do to restore, protect and share Boston Harbor, the Harbor Islands and the region’s public beaches, visit their website at www.savetheharbor.org or follow savetheharbor on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. 

Malibu Beach’s Beats On The Beach Block Party Can’t Be Beat!

 

LDER, ximena, Leo the Kind and Rilla Force joined Save the Harbor/Save the Bay for the Beats on the Beach  

Block Party on Malibu Beach 

 

On Saturday, August 27th, 300 people celebrated clean water and great music on Malibu Beach in Dorchester for the first annual Beats on the Beach Block Party, a free music festival featuring Boston Music Award-winning artists, over 20 local vendors, pedicab and dragon boat rides, and great food. Leo the Kind, Dephrase, Lightfoot, LDER, Rilla Force, ximena, Beats by Girlz house DJ 1800shortking, and the Hip Hop Transformation performed DJ sets and original songs throughout the day. Topo Chico sponsored the event and handed out free mineral water and Beats on the Beach towels. This event was made possible through a grant from Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s Better Beaches Program partnership with the Department of Conservation and Recreation.  

 

Rilla Force and LDER  launched