Cleaning Up the Charles River

I have spent a lot of time on the Charles River, and I love its beauty. But a few years ago I got fed up with the coffee cups and other trash floating on the surface. Because the dam and locks prevent the river from flushing its trash, I would see the same debris over and over again. I knew the government didn't have the money to pick it up.

The Charles River Clean Up Boat could not operate without the generous support of sponsors like CSX.

That's how the Charles River Clean Up Boat got its start.

We're now in our sixth year of helping to keep the river clean. We have pulled out such unusual finds as a Buddha statue, a large upholstered easy chair and four huge bags of Styrofoam peanuts. We also found a body, and a full-size portable toilet. Our volunteers remove more than 200 bags of trash each year.

Our nonprofit organization could never do all this without generous sponsors like CSX, which recently donated another $5,000. CSX has been a long-time contributor to Clean Up Boat and has been a big help in our efforts.