Save the Harbor Hosts Summer of Free Youth Beach Bash & Splashes

One of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s signature events is the Youth Beach Bash and Splash, a celebration at the Department of Conservation & Recreation’s Carson Beach in South Boston. At each Bash hundreds of kids and adults run into the ocean, splashing into the water at the cleanest urban beach in the country. Save the Harbor hosted three Bashes in July and August bringing 1,443 youth and teens to see, touch, and experience, the joy of clean water.

Over 1200 of youth and community members joined the Youth Beach Bash & Splash events this summer on July 13th, July 27th, and August 10th. The events enabled the public to beat the summer heat and enjoy all that one of our nation's cleanest urban beaches has to offer.

"These Beach Bash and Splash events are a highlight of every summer," said Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy & Communications for Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. "Working with our partners at the South Boston Neighborhood House, the Bashes have grown to include youth groups from many surrounding communities. It's been incredible to see so many people experiencing the cleanest urban beaches in the region, and indeed in the country, here in South Boston."

In addition to the signature "splash" at each event, when hundreds of participants take a simultaneous plunge into the cool, clean waters of Boston Harbor, kids enjoyed a variety of educational and entertaining activities. These included fishing and crabbing on the shoreline, swimming lessons provided by the YMCA of Greater Boston, and kayaking lessons provided by Piers Park Sailing Center staff.

Harbor Historian David Coffin, along with Save the Harbor's Youth Summer staff, led inspiring renditions of the sea chantey "Haul Away Joe". Groups joined in to sing along and learned about the collective work by thousands of the region's residents "hauling away together" to preserve Boston Harbor and keep America's cleanest beaches pristine. The event on July 27th also included performances by pirates and entertainers from the Boston Circus Guild, featuring acrobats, aerialists, and hula-hoopers.

Save the Harbor's Youth Environmental Education Program staff also brought touch tanks full of marine life to teach kids about the creatures that share our aquatic environment. Additionally, the public had the opportunity to participate in art on the shore, and all participating groups enjoyed a free lunch.

"Save the Harbor/Save the Bay would like to thank Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, The Boston Foundation, The Coca-Cola Foundation, and Distrigas/ENGIE for their Leadership Grants which make all our free programs possible," said Berman.

"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 & 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 & 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. & Wilma T. Shattuck Charitable Trust, Skanska, South Boston, Community Development Foundation, Abbot & Dorothy H. Stevens Foundation, and Tishman Speyer.

"Save the Harbor would also like to thank 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 & Marianne Connolly, CannonDesign, Circle Furniture, Kevin & Dee Colcord, Dark Horse Capital Partners, Diversified Automotive, Eversource, Tom & 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 & Kate Kellogg, SKW Partners, Inc., Abbot & Dorothy H. Stevens Foundation, Storm Duds, Matthew J. & Gilda F. Strazzula Foundation, TD Charitable Foundation, UDR, Kyle & Sara Warwick, and Winthrop Parks and Recreation."

"Special thanks also to the hundreds of individuals who support our free programs, 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 all of us, and to all of those we serve."