250 Splash in Record Cold to Save Summer Program

On March 5, over 250 brave beach lovers plunged into Boston Harbor at the BCYF Curley Community Center in South Boston in record-breaking cold temperatures as part of the Harpoon Shamrock Splash to benefit Save the Harbor/Save the Bay.

Bridget Ryan, a BPS teacher and South Boston resident, takes the plunge for the 6th year in a row,  raising $1365 for South Boston's beaches as part of this year's Harpoon Shamrock Splash. Splashers raised $7000 to support free beach events and programs on South Boston beaches this summer. 

This year, the “pledge and plunge” fundraiser raised over $50,000, crushing 2016’s fundraising record. All proceeds from the event supports Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s Better Beaches Program, which every year provides a spectacular summer of free concerts and beach festivals, sand sculpting competitions, and youth programs on the region's public beaches in Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull. You can find the exact tally at the event website at www.shamrocksplash.org.

This year’s Harpoon Shamrock Splash was the best ever, with post-plunge Harpoon beers and b.good burgers while Mix 104.1 and AMP 103.3 played hit music. After the event, participants went home to warm up with great Harpoon swag for reaching fundraising goals, and roundtrip JetBlue flights for the biggest fundraisers, and for those who showed up in the best costumes. All splashers and contributors had the opportunity to win in two post-splash JetBlue flight raffles. 

This year’s Harpoon Shamrock Splash was also the most important ever, with deep cuts to the metropolitan beaches budget this year, every dollar raised goes straight to help fund another great summer of free events and youth programs on our public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket.

More than 250 splashers get together for a photo in 20 degree weather before dashing to the water’s edge and taking the plunge in the clean, cold water of Boston Harbor. 

"Despite the budget cuts, Save the Harbor is committed to funding a full season of free beach events and programs this summer" said Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy and Communications at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. "All of us froze our fannies off at the Harpoon Shamrock Splash to make it happen."

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay's plans to #savethesummer have just begun. This month they will issue a Request for Proposals for their 2016 Better Beaches grant program, which funded 40 great events on the region’s public beaches in 2016. You can read about the impact the cuts will have on beaches in Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull on their blog, and how you can help at http://www.blog.savetheharbor.org.

Record breaking cold couldn’t stop these beach-lovers from splashing Sunday to raise a record breaking $52,0000 to support free beach events and programs on their favorite beaches in 2017. 

Thanks to the Metropolitan Beaches Commission, the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the more than 700 people who made pledges in support of the 2017 Harpoon Shamrock Splash. Thanks as well to Save the Harbor's Better Beaches program and policy partners and event sponsors at Harpoon Brewery, JetBlue, b.good, Keezer Sportswear, The Boston Foundation, Harold Whitworth Pierce Charitable Trust, Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation, MarineMax Russo, P&G Gillette, National Grid, Comcast, Google, Mix 104.1, AMP 103.3 and Boston Centers for Youth & Families, Sullivan's Castle Island and the YMCA of Greater Boston for their support.

About the Better Beaches Program

Save the Harbor launched the Better Beaches Program in 2008 to help local communities and beaches friends groups create and sustain free events and activities on the region’s public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket, as recommended by the Metropolitan Beaches Commission, which we help lead and manage for the Legislature.

Over the past 8 years, Save the Harbor's community partners in Nahant, Lynn, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull have leveraged $628,700 in small grants received from Save the Harbor/Save the Bay with $1,918,065 in cash and in-kind contributions from local government and small businesses for a total investment of $2,504,725 in 391 free events and programs for the region’s residents and visitors alike.

In 2016, with the support of Save the Harbor’s foundation funders, program partners, the Department of Conservation and Recreation and hundreds of volunteers, the Better Beaches Program awarded $219,442 in small grants and organizational support to 43 groups in 9 beachfront communities and waterfront neighborhoods. In turn, these groups leveraged those funds to support 107 free concerts, fitness boot-camps, beach festivals, sand raking demonstrations and sand sculpting competitions.

You can download a copy of the most recent Better Beaches program report on our website at savetheharbor.org/Content/2016YouthReport.pdf 

For more information about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay and the work they do to restore, protect and share Boston Harbor, the Boston Harbor Islands and our region's public beaches, visit their website at www.savetheharbor.org, their blog "Sea, Sand & Sky" at blog.savetheharbor.org, or follow savetheharbor on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

25 Years - $25,000 in Beaches Grants, 25 Free Island Trips and the Cleanest Urban Beaches in America!

Boston, MA - June 23, 2011 – This year, the harbor advocacy group Save the Harbor / Save the Bay celebrates its 25th Anniversary as the region's leading voice for clean water and the restoration and protection of Boston Harbor the waterfront, our region's public beaches, the Boston Harbor Islands and the marine environment.

As part of the celebration, this morning Save the Harbor will award $25,000 in small grants to support free events on the region's public beaches in nine waterfront neighborhoods and beachfront communities this summer, including Nahant, Lynn, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull.

The group will also announce 25 free island trips for area youth groups this summer, which they expect will connect more than 5,000 young people from 125 organizations around the city and across the region to Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands National Park.

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay will announce this year's grant recipients at the McDonough Sailing Center at Castle Island in South Boston. The presentations will immediately follow the formal opening of the South Boston CSO Tunnel that will make the beaches of South Boston and North Dorchester Bay the cleanest urban beaches in America. The group will also honor the many individuals who have helped transform Boston Harbor from an embarrassment to a source of opportunity and pride for the city and the region.

“The region’s 19 miles of sandy public beaches have the power to connect a million people with the Harbor we have worked so hard to restore and protect,” said Patricia A. Foley, President of Save the Harbor / Save the Bay. “We are proud to support our partners in the city's waterfront neighborhoods and beachfront communities as they work to bring the regions kids and families to their beaches and the harbor.”
Save the Harbor's "Better Beaches" program was launched in 2008 partnership with The Boston Foundation, whose early support helped make it a success. In the past three years, local community partners in Nahant, Lynn, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy, and Hull have leveraged $91,500 in small grants from Save the Harbor with $278,500 in cash and in-kind donations from local government and small businesses for a grand total of $370,000 to support 100 free beach events and activities for everyone to enjoy. 
 “I am impressed by the way that Save the Harbor / Save the Bay has leveraged the investments that the Boston Foundation has made over the years and has created a sustainable program that strengthens our waterfront neighborhoods and beachfront communities,” said Paul Grogan, Boston Foundation President and CEO. "It is an important asset to our city and the region as we look for new ways to put Boston Harbor to work for our community."

Funds to support this year's grants came from the 1st Annual Spring Splash (AKA CUPID SPLASH!) cold-water plunge and pledge fundraiser held on public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket in April, with additional support from Save the Harbor's "Better Beaches Program" funding partners at The Boston Foundation, Comcast Massachusetts, the Department of Conservation & Recreation, Harpoon Brewery, JetBlue Airways, National Grid and the Harold Whitworth Pierce Charitable Trust.

"More than 2000 JetBlue crewmembers call Boston home, and we are focused on giving back to the communities we serve through the support of great programs like Save the Harbor, Save the Bay," said Ronda Ivy-McLeod, Northeast regional marketing manager for JetBlue Airways. "We are lucky to have such a great harbor - and proud to support such a great cause."

Thanks also to our 25th Anniversary partners at The Boston Foundation, The State Street Foundation, John Hancock, P&G Gillette, and Distragas of Massachusetts / GDF Suez for their generosity and support.

In addition to the Better Beaches Program, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay also runs two free youth programs that combine recreation with hands on environmental education to bring the Harbor alive for the region’s youth. Since these programs began in 2002, Save the Harbor / Save the Bay has connected more than 50,000 youth and teens from more than 125 youth and community groups to Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands National Park.

As part of the group's 25th Anniversary celebration, this year Save the Harbor will host 25 free boat trips to connect the region's youth to the Boston Harbor Islands.

 “We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past 25 years, and especially proud of the difference our free youth programs have made to the kids of our city and the region,” said Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy for Save the Harbor / Save the Bay. "They are the corner-stone of our work to create the next generation of Boston Harbor stewards, by connecting communities to the Harbor we have worked so hard to restore and protect."

Founded in 1986, Save the Harbor / Save the Bay is the region’s leading voice for clean water and the restoration and protection of Boston Harbor, the waterfront, our region's public beaches, the Boston Harbor Islands and the marine environment.

 To find out more about Save the Harbor / Save the Bay's Beach and Youth Programs, visit their website at http://www.savetheharbor.org

Building on Better Beaches

At Save the Harbor/Save the Bay we love this time of year because people up and down the coast are excited to clean up their beaches and show them off to new visitors – and we get to help.

Thanks to generous contributions from The Boston Foundation, National Grid and Comcast, we anticipate that we will have dozens of fun and free events in every beach community from Nahant to Nantasket, so wherever you call home, there should be an event on a nearby beach.

Our president Patty Foley reflected last spring that “It’s remarkable what people who love their beach and their community can accomplish with just a little bit of help.”

After spending some time working with people who love their beaches, I couldn’t agree more. Most everyone that we work with fell in love with “the beach” (whichever it may have been) early and has given back often.

Especially now that we have heard the ideas for the summer from our friends groups on our Metropolitan Beaches from Nahant to Nantasket, these words resonate once again.

The Better Beaches project – bringing people back to our beaches – is never-ending and sometimes challenging but it can also be a great deal of fun. This year, with a little bit of encouragement, we are hearing from people from all of our beach communities about how they plan to take their beach stewardship to the next level through media partnerships, advertising, outreach, fundraising, merchandising, and membership initiatives.

Together, in 2010, these friends will create and sell thousands of T-shirts and other items, develop an online store, produce a TV ad, and work hard to bake several other fresh ideas into working models for financial sustainability.

Strengthened by these strategies, we are confident our friends groups will put together an impressive slate of events from Constitution Beach’s kickoff Beach Party to Nantasket Beach’s Endless Summer that will give people throughout the region plenty of reasons to stretch their summer season and find new things to love about our beaches.

Aside from fulfilling our goal of bringing more people out to the beaches, this year’s series of events will generate a lot of great images and press, stories – and most importantly – memories.

We really hope you are able to make it out to some of this year’s events and buy some kites, totes and T’s. We will use the Better Beaches Blog and our Boston Harbor FacebookPage to keep you posted about beach happenings and events and the great groups that host them.