Area Companies Serve Our City With Corporate Service Days On The Beach

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is pleased to collaborate with our corporate partners to offer stewardship opportunities including beach cleanups, park maintenance and painting projects that support our program partners at the Department of Conservation and Recreation, City of Boston, and dozens of non-profit organizations throughout the Boston region.

With groups ranging in size from five volunteers to over 100, Save the Harbor works to identify interesting and purposeful projects that will benefit our environment, our public beaches, our community partners, as well as the individuals who join us to contribute their time and effort to this cause.

This year, we were excited to welcome 80 summer interns from Vertex Pharmaceuticals on June 26th to kick off the summer by getting Carson Beach in South Boston ready for the summer crowds. Volunteers combed through the tall grasses, under the boardwalk, and through the sands, removing over 2 tons of debris over the course of the morning and afternoon.

Vertex interns triumphantly hoist a muffler they pulled out of the grasses at Carson Beach

We bookended the summer on September 20th when we were happy to once again partner with Blue Cross Blue Shield’s annual company-wide service day. 55 employees descended on Carson Beach to remove invasive sumac, weeds and debris from the beach, paint shelters and the doors and trim of the McCormack Bathhouse, and clear sand-filled pathways along the Harbor Walk to improve ADA accessibility to the beaches. They also visited the South Boston Neighborhood House to do a deep cleaning of their preschool classrooms and kitchen and repaint their classrooms - projects that had long been needed, but were unable to be completed by a small non-profit staff running full-time programs. “We had our first Parent/Child Playgroup today,” said Cheryl Itri, Director of Early Education & Care Programs at SBNH. “The parents were so impressed with our nice fresh look, they kept complimenting on the newly painted walls. Thanks again for being a great partner with us.”

Blue cross Blue Shield faced 50 MPH winds to clean up South Boston Parks and Beaches

In an effort to help Save the Harbor improve water quality near Tenean Beach, a team from Boston Properties has undertaken a regular clean up Victory Road Park in Dorchester as part of their LEED-certification for the building at 200 Clarendon. The program will continue in this unofficial dog park with three stewardship days scheduled for 2018 at the start, middle and end of beach season.

As cute as they are, the critical mass of dogs in Victory Park is a problem for water quality.

Our beaches, parks and community centers are important recreational assets for the region’s residents, and effective stewardship requires a partnership between state, city, and local partners, and our friends and volunteer groups, who consistently bring their spirited approach to all park functions, including important clean-up efforts. One stewardship day can remove up to 3 or 4 tons of debris from the beach and is essential to maintaining these resources. The cleanups also provide an excellent opportunity for team building and colleague bonding, and contribute to the health and wellness of the participants. By the end of one day, volunteers had logged approximately 15,000 steps – over 7 miles!

As a part of this ongoing effort, Save the Harbor works to identify new corporate partners to pair with needed projects around our city and region – there is always more work to be done!

For more information on Stewardship with Save the Harbor, please contact Chris Mancini, Vice President of Operations & Programs at mancini@savetheharbor, and at 617-451-2860 x 1009.