Dedicated to Serving the Community

Cambridge Boat Club is privileged to own and maintain a boathouse on state land on the banks of the Charles River in Cambridge. Since the club’s founding in 1909, its members have been active stewards of the river’s environment, the sport of rowing, and the surrounding community. Members of CBC give back to the community in various ways each year, hosting numerous activities for seniors, youth, and families and participating in service projects that keep the riverfront and our grounds beautiful.The goal is to increase the visibility of Cambridge Boat Club as a civic-minded citizen of Cambridge and nearby communities and to promote greater camaraderie among the Club’s membership.

Community at Large

CBC members routinely contribute low-sugar cereal and other staples to food pantries that serve the needs of those in the Cambridge community. Through its partnership with the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee, CBC donates food that helps supply the needs of pantries serving more than 1,400 families in the city. Each holiday season, CBC organizes a holiday toy collection and distributes toys, games, and other items for children to families living in shelters in the Cambridge community or are part of the district in which the Club boathouse is situated. The outreach effort also includes occasional linen and toiletry drives for the communities served by these organizations. A much-anticipated CBC activity is the club’s annual distribution of chrysanthemums that decorate the grounds of the club during the Head of the Charles Regatta. These beautiful flowers are delivered shortly after the event to several Cambridge nonprofit organizations and government agencies. The Craft Night community at CBC knits infant hats for the maternity ward at Mount Auburn Hospital to support the program in which each newborn is given a hat upon departing from the hospital to go home. Given its location on the banks of the Charles River and its large porch with beautiful river views, the CBC boathouse is a popular place to hold an event. The Club provides special rates for nonprofit organizations and public agencies that wish to host events at its facility.

Youth

CBC provides a wide range of activities for children and youth in the Cambridge community. Since 1999, CBC has provided a home for the Cambridge Rindge & Latin boys and girls crew teams, one of the largest high school rowing programs on the Charles River. In addition to housing the CRLS equipment and providing dock and launching space, CBC hosts special events for students, parents, and teachers. With CBC’s support, hundreds of Cambridge youth have been able to learn, participate in, and compete in the sport of rowing at a very high level.For more than a decade, CBC has taught high school students the technique and self-discipline of rowing in single shells. For advanced junior rowers, the club offers a training program focused on developing highly competitive athletes and boats. In addition, each school year, the club invites a group of the city’s eighth-grade students to the boathouse for a clinic on the fundamentals of rowing (both on the ergometer and on the water in training barges), a healthy lifestyle, and respecting the river environment.

Seniors

CBC has enjoyed a long relationship with the Cambridge Council on Aging. Each year the club hosts a popular Brunch for Seniors, sharing a meal and the view from the porch. Often our members share their expertise in presentations that range from nutrition to novels to the history of the Charles River.

River and Grounds

CBC prizes its location on the banks of the beautiful Charles River and takes pride in maintaining its boathouse, grounds, and the river itself. Each year as part of the Earth Day cleanup of the Charles River, CBC members clear trash that has collected on the river banks from the Eliot Bridge to the Anderson Bridge. The club also provides financial support for the Charles River cleanup boat, which regularly patrols the river removing trash and debris. Additionally, the Club’s Garden & Grounds Committee keeps the CBC grounds and surrounding area clean, mowed, and maintained. We are proud to support the recreational community and events such as Project Bread’s annual Walk for Hunger with parking lot access and the water fountain in front of the boathouse.