Fundraiser for local beaches to make big splash March 11

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay will host its seventh annual Harpoon Shamrock Splash on Sunday, March 11, at M Street Beach in South Boston to raise money for free beach events and programs on the region’s public beaches, from Nahant to Nantasket.

In 2017, Save the Harbor awarded $3,500 to Hull organizations to support free events, including the Harbor Illumination Festival on Hull’s waterfront and L Street Field.

In 2017, the Harpoon Shamrock Splash raised more than $55,000 to support nearly 100 free concerts, beach festivals, sand-raking competitions, and circus performances in Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy, and Hull.

Save the Harbor plans to top last year’s record and raise $60,000 to support free events and programs on the region’s public beaches this year.

“There is simply no better way to celebrate the end of winter than with a quick dip in the cool, clean water of Boston Harbor, followed by a refreshing Harpoon and burgers on the beach with your friends,” said Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s spokesman, Bruce Berman, who has splashed each year since the event began in 2011. “Sure, you will be cold for a few minutes, but the warm feeling you get from raising funds for a great cause will last all year long.”

At the Splash kick-off party last month, Save the Harbor’s President Patricia Foley thanked event sponsors at Harpoon Brewery, JetBlue, Mix 104.1, B. Good, L.L. Bean, and the Blue Sky Collaborative, and their Better Beaches Program funding partners at the Boston Foundation, the Harold Whitworth Pierce Charitable Trust, the Richard Saltonstall Foundation, National Grid, and Comcast.

She also acknowledged the state Legislature, the Baker-Polito administration, and the Metropolitan Beaches Commission for their support for local beaches and their partners at the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Boston Centers for Youth and Families, and the Greater Boston YMCA.

Attendees can register online before the event at www.shamrocksplash.org for $20 or on the day of the event for $25. Registration includes a beer, a burger, a Harpoon Koozie, and the chance to win round-trip flights on JetBlue for best costume and biggest fundraiser.