1200 VOLUNTEERS PARTICIPATE IN 3RD ANNUAL CHARLES RIVER EARTH DAY CLEANUP FROM BOSTON TO BELLINGHAM

Newton, MA …Over 1200 volunteers turned out on Saturday, April 20^th to participate in the 3^rd Annual Charles River Cleanup.  Over 60 organizations cleaned debris from close to 40 sites along the Charles in communities from Boston to Bellingham. 

The event was organized by CRWA, Massachusetts Community Water Watch, Senator Steven Tolman’s office, and the Charles River Stream Team with support from the MDC.  

“We are very excited that this event continues to attract widespread support from so many diverse constituencies connected by the Charles River and that each year the event has drawn more volunteers than the previous,” remarked Bob Zimmerman, Executive Director of Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA). 

Participating groups included 15 universities as well as university alumni organizations, neighborhood associations, garden clubs, women’s groups, crew teams, boat clubs, middle and high school students, boy and girl scouts, and other civic organizations.  Several volunteers used kayaks, canoes and whitewater rafts to gather floating debris from the river.  This is the sixth year Senator Tolman’s office has recruited residents of Brighton, Watertown, and Waltham to volunteer along the banks of the Charles.  Another group, the Box Pond Association, has been organizing cleanups in the Bellingham area for close to twenty years and was pleased to become part of a larger volunteer effort along the river.

All volunteers received t-shirts designed by a Mass College of Art student.  Providing financial support and volunteers were Bread and Circus, Stop and Shop, MIT, BU, Home Depot, Royal Sonesta Hotel, DiAngelo’s, Home Depot, Triumverate Environmental, ESS Group, Genzyme, Ionics, WUMB, Pfizer, MDC and Senator Tolman’s office.  Volunteers were also invited to a post-cleanup celebration at Herter Park on Soldiers Field Road where they were treated to lunch and live music.

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