If you were in Boston this weekend, we hope you caught some of the action at the 44th annual Head of the Charles Regatta, the world’s largest 2-day rowing event. With 55 different racing events and over 7.500 athletes from around the world, it is quite a sight to behold, especially when the weather is perfect!

Large athletic events like the Head of the Charles are often associated with some kind of charity work, so I did some digging on their website. Turns out that a program started in 1998 has raised over $650,000 for charity, including matching contributions from the Regatta.

One of the Regatta’s official charities, Community Rowing, Inc., (CRI) is a public access rowing club and educational center–the largest in the U.S.! [The Regatta's two other official charities are Access Sport America and the Cambridge Community Foundation.] CRI has developed several particularly innovative programs for the Boston community, including beginner rowing classes, G-Row, an after-school program for girls enrolled in Boston Public Schools, and a partnership program with the Perkins School for the Blind.

Firstgiving fundraisers have raised over $40,000 for CRI on Firstgiving.com. One of these fundraisers is Gina Navia, who raced this weekend in a quad event and has collected over $1500 in donations for CRI’s new Adaptive Rowing Program, which launched last month. You can read more about the program on her fundraising page.

We’re happy to see that Gina is fundraising so successfully rather than catching crabs. Her page is a great example of a fundraising effort that will have impact for a small, local charity. Power ten, Gina!