Last year, the East Boston YMCA took advantage Save the Harbor / Save the Bay’s grant program and brought a YMCA’s Beach Kick-Off Day and an end of season beach dance to Constitution Beach. The program brought public school kids to the waterfront on their day off with games and activities on the beach, as well as in late August with an end of summer beach party.
This year Save the Harbor / Save the Bay awarded the Y $1,500 grant to support events again at Constitution Beach this summer.
At a press conference on the Boston Fish Pier on Saturday the non-profit organization awarded $30,500 in grants to 11 groups to support 35 free public events in nine Boston Harbor region beachfront communities from Nahant to Nantasket–the Y being one of them.
The grant will enable The Y to again hold “Beach Kick-off Day” on Constitution Beach on June 17–a public school holiday–to raise awareness about their summer food service program. The event will feature face painting, sand castle contests, sports, games, arts and crafts, music, and an opportunity for community members to meet with organizations that will be offering programs on Constitution Beach during the summer. The grant award will also support the Y late season movie night, campfire night, and beach activities for local youth in late August.
The Y will also use the events to highlight the opening of the new Lazarus Youth Center near the beach which will give children the opportunity to continue their activities indoors and also provide the summer food service program when the beach is closed due to weather.
“Sharing cleaner water and better beaches with everyone; that’s what Save the Harbor / Save the Bay is all about” said Senator Anthony Petruccelli.
In addition, Save the Harbor announced that in the fall they will introduce the “Best of the Beaches” awards of up to $2,000 to organizations that deliver outstanding events on our region’s public beaches in Eastie, Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull this summer.
This year’s “Better Beaches” events will include beachfront concert series, kite festivals, sand sculpting competitions, beachside art shows, environmental education programs, family fun nights and reading programs, volleyball tournaments and several beach festivals.
The program is made possible by a $25,000 grant from the Boston Foundation, $25,000 of in-kind support from the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), and the financial support of Save the Harbor’s corporate partners at National Grid, Comcast Massachusetts, and JetBlue Airways.