More than 250 brave beach-lovers will plunge into the icy waters of Boston Harbor at the BCYF Curley Community Center on Carson Beach in South Boston on March 5th at the Harpoon Shamrock Splash to raise money to support free events and programs on the region’s public beaches from Nahant to Nantasket this summer after DCR Commissioner Leo Roy indicated that the Baker Administration’s most recent round of budget cuts will prevent his agency from investing in the Better Beaches program this year.
This round of cuts includes a $5 million cut in DCR’s operating budget and a $400,000 reduction for seasonal staff. They also include cuts to the Metropolitan Beaches budget line, including $50,000 for algae removal in Lynn, Swampscott and Nahant and $100,000 for free beach events and programs this summer.
“This year’s splash is more important than ever before” said Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy & Communications at Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. “With deep cuts to DCR’s metropolitan beaches budget this year, all the funds we raise will support Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s Better Beaches Program to fund another great summer of free events and youth programs on the beach from Nahant to Nantasket.”
This year’s splash will be better than ever, with refreshing Harpoon beer, real food from b.good and music by the Mix 104.1 & AMP 103.3 street teams. And of course there are many chances to win free flights from our partners at JetBlue and great swag from Harpoon for best costumes, biggest fundraisers and just for taking the plunge.
Registration for this year’s Harpoon Shamrock Splash is just $20 at www.shamrocksplash.org<http://www.shamrocksplash.org> You must be 21 or older to take participate. All proceeds go to support free events and programs on the region’s public beaches in 2017. Find out more about the event and the impact of the cuts on Save the Harbor’s blog at www.blog.savetheharbor.org<http://www.blog.savetheharbor.org>
You can download a copy of the most recent Better Beaches program report on our website at savetheharbor.org/Content/2016YouthReport.pdf<http://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<http://www.savetheharbor.org>, their blog “Sea, Sand & Sky” at blog.savetheharbor.org, or follow savetheharbor on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
