West Marine announces spring 2016 BlueFuture grant winners
West Marine has announced the names of the 25 nonprofit organizations that will receive spring 2016 BlueFuture grants.
West Marine’s BlueFuture Program will present the $1,500 grants this month to the winners, all of which are community-based organizations that are dedicated to getting young people on and around the water in both recreational and educational capacities.
The grants are unrestricted, which means that West Marine allows grant recipients to determine how and when they use the funds.
“We believe no one understands the needs of a community better than those living and working in that community,” said Lindsey Johnson, West Marine’s director of communications. “We’re very much looking forward to hearing about our grant recipients’ accomplishments in the year to come.”
The spring 2016 BlueFuture grant recipients are:
- Boat Kids, Lutz, Florida
- Boys & Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula-Gloucester Unit, Hayes, Virginia
- Call of the Sea, Sausalito, California
- Community Boating Center Inc., Providence, Rhode Island
- Duluth Community Sailing Association, Duluth, Minnesota
- Grand Haven High School Sailing Club, Grand Haven, Michigan
- Hamden Middle School Navigator Program, Hamden, Connecticut
- Kids Outdoors Inc., Morris Plains, New Jersey
- Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center, Burlington, Vermont
- Lowcountry Maritime Society, Charleston, South Carolina
- Maine Maritime Museum, Bath, Maine
- Marine Industry Cares Foundation, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Mattapoisett Community Sailing Inc., Mattapoisett, Massachusetts
- Middlesex YMCA Camp Ingersoll, Middletown, Connecticut
- Mountain and Sea Educational Adventures, San Pedro, California
- New England Science & Sailing Foundation, Stonington, Connecticut
- O’Neill Sea Odyssey, Santa Cruz, California
- Quartermaster Yacht Club/Vashon Parks District, Vashon, Washington
- Rocking the Boat, Bronx, New York
- Salish Sea Expeditions, Bainbridge Island, Washington
- Seymour Marine Discovery Center, Santa Cruz, California
- South Coast Sailing Team/Mariners 936 Sea Scouts, Laguna Niguel, California
- Spirit of America Foundation, Mentor, Ohio
- Waterfront Education, Redondo Beach, California
“We congratulate these 25 nonprofit organizations, which are doing so much to improve youth access to the water in their communities,” Johnson said. “We’re also deeply grateful to all the organizations who applied for spring 2016 BlueFuture grants. We extend our best wishes to all of them for continued success and hope they will consider reapplying in the fall.”
West Marine’s BlueFuture Fund distributes tens of thousands of dollars annually through spring and fall BlueFuture grants. To grow the fund, West Marine conducts three signature in-store fundraisers: National Safe Boating Week in May; World Oceans Day in June; and the Month of Giving in December. The fund also encourages year-round donations through its website, www.westmarine.com/BlueFuture.
