The Intro To The Intro

Hi, my name is Jazeel Mendes and this is my first year with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, I am really happy to be part of the of this team. I am currently working at Piers Park in East Boston and McDonough Sailing Center in South Boston. I am 16 years old and I am Cape Verdean. I am currently attending Madison Park High School and my vocational class is Carpentry.

The Nicest Crab In The Sea

I decided to work for Save the Harbor because I though it would be a really great experience to work with kids and learn with the  kids. I really like the ocean and I just want to learn everything there is to know about the sea so I can help the kids.

Hoping For a Great Summer : Jazeel Mendes

The Carson Beach Blues

Tuesday was the perfect day, the sun was shining in a brilliant blue sky, and the breeze a perfect mix of salty ocean air warmed by the sun blowing in over sparkling blue waters. Even the sand was blue- with our dedicated partners from Blue Cross Blue Shield that is. Save the Harbor / Save the Bay and Blue Cross Blue Shield came together to do our part to keep Carson beach clean. Blue Cross Blue Shield participated with us as just one part of a larger effort including thirty projects, 1600 hours, and 3000 participants in a statewide cleanup effort. Working with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, we were placed into eight groups and to spread out so each group could take a section of the beach and cover more ground.

The BlueCrew hard at work cleaning Carson Beach.

My group was assigned the far side of the beach near the seawall. Our mission was to pull weeds and pick up any trash. Once we arrived to our section we split into groups of two and we got to it. It was nice seeing people from other communities coming together to keep the Carson Beach landscape beautiful. As we prepared to head back for lunch our group took a moment to see what we had accomplished with just a few hours of hard work. BCBS employee Jackie Bliss stated that it was amazing the difference from when we started.

Jackie Bliss, Greg Ciagelo and Jackie Kenney from BCBS.

During lunch, I talked with Greg Ciagelo of Somerville. We spoke about how it’s great that the water is now clean so people can swim at the beaches, but that there’s still much more to do. We need to continue to maintain the beaches so visitors can enjoy them for their recreational purposes. I agreed with him-it’s one thing to be able to swim at the beach, but if the sand is dirty or the facilities are not in good condition then it limits other activities that these beaches can provide. After lunch, the teams spent another three hours beautifying this relaxing space just minutes from downtown Boston. Performing service to better our community is rewarding in itself, having the opportunity to meeting the employees from Blue Cross Blue Shield and be a part of their cleanup project made the day that much better.

- Camilla

Camilla Fitzpatrick

Communications and Development Intern

Save the Harbor / Save the Bay

Cleaning up Carson Beach with Blue Cross/Blue Shield

There can't be many better ways to spend a workday than cleaning up a beach on a beautiful, sunny fall afternoon. Save the Harbor was lucky enough to join nearly 100 BlueCrew members from Blue Cross/Blue Shield in a clean up on Carson Beach this Tuesday. This is just one of the many volunteer efforts of Blue Cross/Blue Shield as part of their Massachusetts Service Day projects. 

The BlueCrew gathers to start the day of service

The crew was divided into 8 teams and scattered to cover the entire stretch of beach. I hopped in to join "Foley's Team," dubbed for group leader, Tom Foley of Somerset. We headed out towards the gazebo, working our way back towards the center of the beach. Our group had a great attitude, smiling and joking the entire day. Foley served as a great leader, eagerly pulling out weeds along the beach and cracking jokes with his peers. 

Sean Sullivan, of Dartmouth, and Tom Foley, of Somerset, chatting and weeding 

We were so efficient that we finished our area by lunchtime! There were roughly 10 bags of trash and weeds from our group by this time already. Our spirits were high and our tummies ready for lunch. But on the walk back to the beach house, a stray plastic bag started making its way towards the water. Odette Palmer-Lee of Boston quickly ran off to catch it, and returned with the grin of success on her face! 

Odette Palmer-Lee captures her prey- a stray plastic bag!

After our lunch break, we continued our weeding efforts for the rest of the day before joining the rest of the teams for final reflections and much-deserved praise of the BlueCrew's service accomplishments. I think it's safe to say that everyone had a wonderful time spending their day chatting with friends, enjoying the weather, and working to make Carson Beach an even more enjoyable amenity of Boston. 

"Foley's Team" with Chris Davis, Odette Palmer-Lee, Sean Sullivan, Claire Tigges, Tom Foley, Todd Linsky, Cori Linsky, and Holly MacMillan. 

Jacqueline 

Jacqueline Sussman

Policy Intern 

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay