Overview
- The polar plunge took place Sunday at Constitution Beach in East Boston, drawing hundreds into the chilly harbor.
- Save the Harbor/Save the Bay organized the 16th annual event in partnership with JetBlue to raise grants for summer programming on DCR beaches.
- The organization reports last year’s Better Beaches grants financed nearly 200 activities with more than $300,000 for diverse communities across the region.
- Executive director Chris Mancini linked the effort to decades of cleanup, saying Boston once discharged vast untreated sewage but now claims some of the cleanest urban beaches in the country.
- Beachside festivities featured music, chowder from the Daily Catch, lawn games, and a costume contest won by a participant dressed as Rose from Titanic.