If you or your group has a great idea for a free event or program on your favorite beach this year, here’s some very good news:
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and the Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) have released a Request for Proposals for Better Beaches Program Grants to fund free events and programs on the region’s public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket in 2019!
We are seeking proposals from organizations to generate excitement by hosting an array of beach related activities. All ideas are welcome, but grants are intended to reach a goal of uniting neighbors and sharing what each unique beach has to offer. Nearly $250,000 will be invested in the Better Beaches Program with each organization receiving between $500-$5,000 and exceptional cases receiving larger amounts. Grants will support events in Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull.
In 2018, Save the Harbor and DCR awarded more than $200,000 in Better Beaches Program grants to 36 organizations in nine waterfront communities from Nahant to Nantasket. Last year’s grants supported 163 free events that included concerts, movie nights, kayak lessons, sand-sculpting competitions, and circus performances on the beach, as well as Storytelling by the Sea, Art on the Shore, and much more.
“The Better Beaches Program funds and supports free events and programs that are as different as the beachfront communities and waterfront neighborhoods that host them,” said Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s President Tani Marinovich. “But one thing they all have in common is that they bring kids and families together to enjoy our region’s great public beaches.”
"The Baker-Polito Administration is proud to work collaboratively with organizations like Save the Harbor/Save the Bay in an effort to ensure the Commonwealth's state beaches and other parks and reservations remain popular destinations for residents and tourists alike," said DCR Commissioner Leo Roy. "The Better Beaches Program serves as a great example of a strong partnership that will directly impact visitors of some of the state's most popular beaches."
This year, funds to support the program will include the proceeds of the Harpoon Shamrock Splash which will be held on Sunday, March 10th at the BCYF Curley Community Center at M Street Beach in South Boston. You can register or make a donation online at www.shamrocksplash.org
“These free programs are extremely important to our region’s residents and visitors alike,” said Representative RoseLee Vincent, Co-Chair Metropolitan Beaches Commission, Revere and Saugus. “Thanks to Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and DCR for working together to strengthen our beachfront communities and waterfront neighborhoods.”
“When everyone pulls together, life can really be a beach,” said Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy and Communications for Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. “All of us at Save the Harbor would like to thank our program partners and event sponsors, Harpoon Brewery, JetBlue, Mix 104.1, The Daily Catch, Baja Taco Truck, and the Blue Sky Collaborative, The Boston Foundation, the Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation, Beacon Capital Partners, P&G Gillette, National Grid, and Comcast for their support.”
“We would also like to thank Metropolitan Beaches Commission Co-Chairs Representative RoseLee Vincent and Senator Brendan Crighton, the legislative and community members of the Commission, the Baker-Polito Administration, our partners at the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Boston Centers for Youth & Families, and The YMCA of Greater Boston, and the hundreds of people who take part in the Harpoon Shamrock Splash for making this great program possible.”
To find out more about the Better Beaches Program, download Save the Harbor’s 2018 Better Beaches Program Report here.
For more information on how to apply for a 2019 Better Beaches Program grant, visit Save the Harbor’s blog, Sea, Sand & Sky at http://blog.savetheharbor.org/ or send an email to patton@savetheharbor.org.
Applications are due by Monday April 22, 2019.
Grants will be awarded on Saturday, June 8th at Boston’s Fish Pier.
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