Save the Harbor 2014 Better Beaches Awards

On Saturday, June 7, 2014 Save the Harbor / Save the Bay awarded $31,500 in Better Beaches grants to 18 groups to support dozens of free public events in nine beachfront communities from Nahant to Nantasket this summer.

This year's Better Beaches Program awards winners at
Save the Harbor's office on Boston's Fish Pier.

This year’s “Better Beaches” events include sand sculpting competitions, beachfront concerts, environmental education programs, family fun nights, reading nights, art festivals, beach yoga, and other beach programs in Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull.

By the end of the season, Save the Harbor's Better Beaches program will have invested more than $214,000 in small grants to beaches friends groups in Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull. They in turn have leveraged our funds with $816,000 in additional cash and in-kind support for a total investment of more than $1 million in more than 200 free beach events and programs since 2007.

“The Boston Harbor region's public beaches are important assets to the region's residents and visitors alike,” said Patricia A. Foley, President of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. “We are proud to support our partners in the city's waterfront neighborhoods and beachfront communities as they work to share their beaches and the harbor with the region’s kids and families.”

Among the events funded by the Better Beaches program this year
is the Revere Beach National Sand Sculpting Festival.

Save the Harbor / Save the Bay launched the Better Beaches grants program in 2008 to help local communities and formal and informal beaches Friends Groups jump-start free events and activities on public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket with the support of The Boston Foundation.

Today the funds to sustain this program come from the annual “Harpoon Helps Cupid Splash” pledge fundraiser, and Save the Harbor’s Better Beaches Program funding partners at Harpoon Brewery, JetBlue Airways, National Grid, Comcast Massachusetts, the Harold Whitworth Pierce Charitable Trust, Russo Marine, and P&G Gillette.

Nearly 200 brave souls plunged into the chilly waters of Boston Harbor this year
to raise funds for the Better Beaches Program at the Harpoon Helps Cupid Splash.

This year the “Harpoon Helps Cupid Splash” raised more than $30,000 from nearly 500 splashers and supporters to fund this year’s Better Beaches program grants, as participants competed for JetBlue Airways tickets and great gifts from Harpoon Brewery.

 "Harpoon started brewing beer on the waterfront 27 years ago. We couldn't have imagined then how Boston Harbor has been transformed into such a wonderful place" said Charles M. Storey, Sr. V.P. of Marketing at Harpoon Brewery. "Nor could we imagine that we would have so much fun plunging into clean, cold water and having a cold beer! We love being a part of the Cupid Splash and supporting Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and the Better Beaches Program."

Special thanks to our program partners at the BCYF Curley Community Center, the Department of Conservation & Recreation, the YMCA, Legal Sea Foods, Mix 104.1, and Tasty Burger for their support.

This summer Save the Harbor will once again host two Better Beaches events at the BCYF Curley Community Center at M Street Beach in South Boston. These include the Youth Beach Bash and Splash, which will bring 500 kids to the beach to celebrate clean water, and the Swim and Paddle for Boston Harbor, a one mile, chip-timed competitive swim and a stand up paddleboard race on one of the cleanest urban beaches in America.

Competitors line up for the stand up paddleboard race at last year's Swim and Paddle for Boston Harbor.

Here are the 2014 Better Beaches Awards Winners.

In addition to the grants, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay also gave each group a bag of one-inch diameter marbles to scatter on their respective beaches as part of the “Simply Marble-ous” Treasure Hunt sponsored by JetBlue Airways. Anyone who finds one of these marbles between July 4th and the end of the summer will be have a chance to win a round trip airline ticket from JetBlue Airways.
Ronda Ivy McLeod, Manager of Regional Marketing, Northeast at JetBlue Airways, whose team  raised more than $2,500 at this year's splash said "We are always happy to partner with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. Core to our mission is inspiring humanity, whether it is in the air or on the beach!"

For more information about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, visit our website at www.savetheharbor.org and follow savetheharbor on Facebook and Twitter.

For information on upcoming Better Beaches events, join our Boston Harbor Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bostonharbor