Charles River Conservancy Awarded $20,000 Grant For Service Learning By The Boston Foundation

October 9, 2003

The Charles River Conservancy was awarded a $20,000 grant by The Boston Foundation for its Service Learning Initiative during the Foundation's September 2003 funding round.

The Charles River Parklands, as they wind through Watertown, Cambridge, Brighton, Allston, the Back Bay, Beacon Hill and Charlestown, are a great place for education. The Conservancy's new Service Learning Initiative will help educators take advantage of this unique resource while teaching their students the values of community service. The Boston Foundation grant will enable Conservancy staff members to work directly with teachers, creating a customized Parklands experience for their students. While in the parks, students will have the option of engaging in a variety of landscaping and environmental restoration tasks. Conservancy staff members will also work with the teachers to ensure that lessons learned in the classroom are reinforced in the Parklands and visa versa.

If future projects are as exciting as the Conservancy's Service Learning pilot, done in partnership with SummerBridge Cambridge, it should be an amazing year for education along the Charles. Conservancy-led Parklands experiences supplemented in-class lessons on the history of the Charles River for a select group of 8th and 9th grade students. Working both on the Esplanade and in Hell's Half Acre, the students identified and removed invasive plant species, drafted language for educational signs and picked up trash. In reflecting on his experience, one of the students stated, "Helping my community by picking up trash and cleaning the environment was an educational time for me."

The Charles River Conservancy will shortly begin reaching out to educators serving schools and out-of-school-time programs along the lower Charles River. Any teachers interested in developing a Charles River Parklands based Service Learning Program for their students should contact the Charles River Conservancy by phone or email crc@thecharles.org.

Founded in 2000, the Charles River Conservancy is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the stewardship and renewal of the Charles River Parklands. In addition to assisting educators wishing to teach their classes about the Parklands, the Conservancy engages community members in hands on Parklands stewardship through its Conservancy Volunteers program. Since the volunteer program was started in September 2002, over 1000 community members have volunteered through the Conservancy. Other initiatives include building the New Basin Skatepark, working to improve the Dr. Paul Dudley White Pathway, and educating the public through its award-winning book, Inventing the Charles River. With the help of the Boston Foundation, the Conservancy provides access to the river and its parklands to those that have not traditionally benefited from this great public resource.

The Boston Foundation, one of the nation's oldest and largest community foundations, has an endowment of $563 million. This year, it has made grants of more than $50 million to non-profit organizations in the Greater Boston area and beyond. The Boston Foundation also sponsors special initiatives, convenes groups of people to explore important issues, and works with other organizations and with government to find new ways to build community. For more information about The Boston Foundation and its grantmaking, visit The Boston Foundation website (www.tbf.org).