Recent Grants

Oyster Kids

Each year, a number of 4th and 5th graders from local elementary schools participate in this program, run in partnership with The Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The Bay used to be teaming with crabs and oysters, but both populations are now rapidly declining. The oysters’ poor health is particularly disturbing. They used to filter the entire Bay in a couple of days, but because of run-off, pollution, and disease, this is no longer possible. And so the Bay gets dirtier and dirtier!

The children come to Eastport Yacht Club in the fall to measure young oyster spat growing on old oyster shells, provided by CBF. They take samples of Bay water and measure its salinity, PH, and temperature, learning how the condition of the water is critical to the growth of the oysters. The spat is put in cages and lowered into the water off the Club docks, where it will grow through the winter. By the spring, it will reach a size where it can survive on a sanctuary reef out in the Bay. A highlight for the children is a springtime boat trip out to one of these reefs, where the oysters are released to do their valuable work.

The Foundation funds all expenses of this program, including paying for buses to bring the children to the Club in Eastport twice a year, and for t-shirts and a pizza lunch in the Clubhouse. Club members kindly provide use of their boats free of charge.

Boys and Girls Outreach Program

Boat Building by the Bay

A partnership between Box of Rain, Annapolis Maritime Museum, and the Eastport Yacht Club Foundation, Boat Building by the Bay funded a Saturday morning canoe building program for 30 students aged 10 and up, all coming from at-risk backgrounds. The EYC Foundation has provided a $3,500 grant for supplies, tools, fieldtrips, and a program coordinator for an 8-month period.

The participants will gain maritime trade skills by working with teachers trained in building and restoring wooden boats.  Their work will become an active exhibit at Annapolis Maritime Museum, and photos and updates of their work will be incorporated into a blog eventually linked to this web site.

At the end of the program, the students will have a boat they can use, and will have learned new skills, all leading to a valuable increase in their self-esteem.

Read the program's blog to learn more...