A Message From Our President

The year ahead marks an important transition for me personally, as I recently announced my intention to retire as President in April. 2019 is also an important year for Save the Harbor/Save the Bay as we work to strengthen our free programs and advance our ambitious advocacy agenda.

You can be certain that our Chairman Joe Newman, the Board of Directors, our Director of Strategy & Communications Bruce Berman and the staff will keep our commitment to our free programs and policy goals. Working together, we have transformed Boston Harbor from a national disgrace into a source of educational, recreational and economic opportunity and civic pride for the nearly two million people who live just a short ride or drive to the waterfront, the harbor, the islands and the region’s public beaches.

Though there is still more work to do to and new challenges ahead, with your sustained support we have made Boston Harbor home to some of the cleanest urban beaches in the nation, and our spectacular waterfront and the harbor islands have become destinations for the region’s residents and visitors alike. I hope you will make a contribution today at www.savetheharbor.org/contribution as we prepare to begin the next important phase of our work.

I am certain that the future is bright for Boston Harbor and Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. With your support, Save the Harbor will continue to be the region’s leading voice for clean water, advocating for modest but important investments in 2019 that protect our region’s $5 billion public investment in the Boston Harbor cleanup and provide free events and programs that connect nearly 2 million residents annually with Boston Harbor, the waterfront, the Boston Harbor Islands and our region’s public beaches.

With your continued support, Save the Harbor will also continue to be the Boston Harbor Connection with four seasons of free programs that Share the Harbor with underserved young people and low-income families.

• Since 2002, our free Youth Environmental Education Programs, which include All Access Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Explorers, have connected nearly 250,000 underserved young people from 124 organizations in 40 communities to the harbor we have helped to restore and protect. Additionally more than 14,000 people signed up for our new free Share The Harbor cruises in 2018.
  
• Since 2008, our free Better Beaches Program partnership with DCR has invested more than $4 million dollars to support hundreds of free events and program in 9 waterfront neighborhoods and beachfront communities from Nahant to Nantasket since we began it in 2008, bringing more than 1 million visitors back to our beaches in 2018.

With your continued support, our free events and programs will continue to create a generation of stewards who understand that Boston Harbor, the islands and our public beaches belong to them and their communities, bringing the waterfront and the harbor to the center of civic life in our capital city.

I learned to swim at L Street Beach in South Boston many decades ago, where I also learned to love our city and the sea. Today, I still love Boston and our spectacular harbor, and I know you do too.

When I first joined Save the Harbor nearly 20 years ago, it was easy for me to embrace the mission: to restore, protect, connect and share Boston Harbor with Bostonians from every neighborhood and the region’s underserved kids and families.

As President, it has been my privilege to work with an exceptional mix of people, policy makers, communities, companies, funders and other organizations to strengthen our city and improve the quality of life for all our residents.

Since Save the Harbor was founded in 1986, we have given Boston Harbor back to the people.

As I prepare to leave this terrific and challenging position, I hope that you will take a moment to make a contribution of $25, $50, $100, $250 or whatever you can afford to give to support our work to restore, protect, connect, and share Boston Harbor with the region's underserved kids and low-income families.

On behalf of Joe Newman, the Board of Directors, Bruce and myself, I am personally grateful for your belief in our mission and for your continued support for our work. Best of wishes throughout the holiday season.


All the best,
Patricia A. Foley


P.S. You can be confident that your contribution will be invested wisely. Save the Harbor invests 80 cents of every dollar you donate to support free events and programs that help restore, protect, connect and share Boston Harbor, the waterfront, the harbor islands and the region’s public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket. It is easy to make your contribution online today at our website at www.savetheharbor.org/contribution