11th Hour Racing Renews Grants with 25 Nonprofit Organizations #fortheocean

January 11, 2024

Reinforcing its mission to support local programs that model best practices of sustainability, restore coastal ecosystems, and advance ocean stewardship, 11th Hour Racing also renewed grants with 25 nonprofit organizations and made 11 contributions to community nonprofits in Rhode Island.

The current round of grant renewals includes the following nonprofit organizations:

Azul (R.I., U.S.) leads the #LatinosMarinos program to elevate voices from frontline communities through storytelling, roots, and culture to support activism and leadership in the movement to protect our ocean and its marine life.
Billion Oyster Project (N.Y., U.S.) is restoring oyster reefs to New York Harbor through public education initiatives. By 2035, the goal is to distribute one billion live oysters around 100 acres of reefs.
BLAKE (Auckland, N.Z.) connects students with the marine environment through snorkeling, surfing, walking nature trails, beach cleanups, and other outdoor activities to inspire them to take action for the environment.
Center for EcoTechnology (R.I., U.S.) works with businesses to educate the commercial sector on food waste diversion, address contamination challenges in their food scrap collections, offer guidance for on-site processing of food scraps, and identify opportunities to prevent surplus and donate edible food.
Chicago Maritime Arts Center (Ill., U.S.) offers a youth boat-building program in Chicago that teaches science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) and teamwork and explores the ecology and the maritime arts.
Clean Ocean Access (R.I., U.S.) leads Healthy Soils Healthy Seas Rhode Island, a residential and commercial composting program to divert food scraps from our waste stream and increase land and sea connectivity awareness. *The organization has since closed permanently.
Community Boating Center New Bedford (Mass., U.S.) introduces public school students to ecosystem restoration, sailing, and STEM career paths and leads a small offshore sailing academy for the Figaro class.
Community Boating Center Providence (R.I., U.S.) provides funding for youth to attend sailing and paddling lessons and teaches STEM education and ocean literacy skills on the water.
Connecticut College (Conn., U.S.) leads Salt Marsh restoration with research opportunities for local students in a historically inaccessible waterway.
Courageous Sailing Center (Mass., U.S.) teaches elementary school students sailing, swimming, and academics to build proficiency and empower them to think critically about issues of marine debris, waste management, water quality, climate change, and endangered species.
Hudson River Community Sailing (N.Y., U.S.) provides year-round youth development, academic enrichment, and leadership education through sailing and boatbuilding.
Massachusetts Oyster Project (Mass., U.S.) leads a shell recycling program to divert oyster shells from landfills and restore Cape Cod’s local oyster population.
Mariposa DR Foundation (Cabarete, Dominican Republic) aims to end generational poverty by empowering, educating, and employing girls aged 8-18+ with year-round programming emphasizing environmental stewardship and activism.
MLK Center (R.I., U.S.) nourishes, educates, and supports Newport County residents to improve their economic, social, and physical well-being. The students enrolled in the MLK Center’s preschool and after-school programs participate in sorting their food scraps to be composted through the Healthy Soils Healthy Seas RI program.
newportFILM (R.I., U.S.) hosts public film and educational screenings for students to heighten awareness of the issues facing our planet and implements Zero Waste stations for composting and recycling to make events more sustainable.
Ocean Discovery Institute (Calif., U.S.) leads a multi-year science and conservation program designed to empower students from 8th grade onward to envision themselves as scientists and pursue higher education and STEM careers.
Ocean Research & Conservation Association (Fla., U.S.) engages citizen scientists in piloting concrete-based oyster Reef Balls as a living shoreline technique and seagrass restoration along the Indian River Lagoon.
Rocking the Boat (N.Y., U.S.) leads an on-water environmental science program that teaches unique and lifelong skills for building and rowing wooden boats, sailing, and restoring the Bronx River. It also offers social and emotional support to help students excel academically through high school and college.
Save the Bay (R.I., U.S.) leads coastal adaptation and resilience projects related to salt marsh restoration and facilitates behavior change initiatives to improve water quality in the Narragansett Watershed.
Save the Sound (Conn., U.S.) is piloting an innovative eelgrass restoration technique to improve water quality, store carbon, and protect the shoreline from storms in Long Island Sound.
SoundWaters (Conn., U.S.) leads hands-on learning experiences through a STEM-based curriculum that includes sailing and workforce development programs that support academic growth through middle school and high school. It also operates a kelp farm and conducts educational sessions about the benefits of kelp for ocean health.
Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii (Hawaii, U.S.) is increasing Oahu’s capacity to process food waste into compost with an in-vessel system and expanding education on the link between soil and ocean health.
The Ocean Foundation (DC, U.S.) is rapidly restoring a 1,445-acre mangrove wetland area in the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (JBNERR) in Puerto Rico, the largest attempted mangrove restoration effort of its kind in the United States. The solar-powered red mangrove nursery at JBNERR will provide saplings for 2,500 trees.
The Trustees of Reservations (Mass., U.S.) uses land management areas as living laboratories to research and pilot salt marsh restoration techniques and nature-based approaches to climate resilience.
Unplastify (Buenos Aires, Argentina) inspires the Argentinean sailing community to take action against plastic pollution through educational talks, campaigns, and one toolkit on how sailing clubs can eliminate single-use plastic.

11th Hour Racing’s additional contributions to Rhode Island-based nonprofit organizations reflect its mission to support those working to forge a sustainable and inclusive coastal community, foster resilience, and tackle local environmental challenges.

Bike Newport is on a mission to create the conditions that lead to more people biking more often and to ensure that bicycling is a viable, safe, and comfortable primary choice for transportation and recreation.
Boys & Girls Club of Newport County aims to inspire and enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens.
Conexión Latina Newport works to educate, inform, mobilize, and advocate for all Hispanics in Newport, as well as advise and partner with social services, education, and government agencies on how they best meet the needs of the Newport Hispanic Community.
Eating with the Ecosystem is a small nonprofit with a unique mission to promote a place-based approach to sustaining New England’s wild seafood.
EcoRI News is dedicated to reporting on environmental and social justice issues in southern New England, creating a more informed public and providing individuals with the information they need to be better stewards of their environment.
FabNewport aims to ensure all youth have equitable access to resources, opportunities, and relationships to thrive now and in the future.
International Tennis Hall of Fame: TeamFAME provides one-on-one tutoring, tennis programs, social and emotional lessons, and enrichment activities that keep children active, engaged, and growing in their love of tennis and the character benefits it fosters.
Newport Festivals Foundation is on a mission to create moments of hope through the power of music and community.
Portsmouth AgInnovation Farm is a student-driven community farm education program where students problem-solve during authentication learning and community collaboration so that they become productive citizens in our community.
Sankofa Community Connection is forging a path through previously uncharted waters to achieve unprecedented results through having frank discussions about race with community members, holding organizations accountable, providing Newport with Black female leadership, de-escalating conflict, and supplying locals with resources.
Zero Waste Providence focuses on creating opportunities for members of the Providence community to participate in more sustainable lifestyles and economies.

Header image: Connecticut College professor Dr. Maria Rosa and students are deploying 80 Reef Balls® made of pH-balanced concrete that will create a living shoreline to help restore tidal marshes in Connecticut. Photo credit: Dominique Sindayiganza / 11th Hour Racing