Tufts Student-Athletes Collaborate with Friends of the Malden River on Cleanup

On Sunday, April 3, a group of Tufts student-athletes participated in a clean-up of the Malden River around the Shoemaker Boathouse. Juniors Logan McLennan (men’s rowing) and RaiAnn Bu (women’s track and field) collaborated with Trevena Bennett (Athletics Civic Life Coordinator) and Karen Buck (President, Friends of the Malden River) to plan an event to clean up trash on the banks of the Malden River. There were about 20 student-athletes from men’s and women’s rowing and women’s track and field, along with several volunteers from the Friends of the Malden River and local community as well. It was a great event that brought many people together; and was especially meaningful for the rowing team to be more connected to and to take care of their “home turf”. Additionally, the student-athletes learned from Karen about the history of the Malden River and the importance of their role in helping it to heal after many years of pollution from development and industry. After the event, one student-athlete wrote in their reflection that it “felt so good to clean up river we row on!", and many students signed up to continue to be involved with the Friends of the Malden River. Participants collected 33 bags of trash, which included 16 bags of sorted single use plastic bottles (over 1500 bottles)!