Right Around the River Blog

Watershed Specials at The Boathouse Promote a Cleaner River

Post Date: 03-07-2012

Food lovers: If you never thought you could eat your way to a cleaner river, think again.

Since 2010, The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing has offered a food special aimed at promoting our region's cleaner waterways, called their "Watershed Special." Partnering with two nonprofits, Friends of the James River Park (FOJRP) and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, each time a customer orders a special, The Boathouse donates a percentage of the sales to their participating nonprofits. The special changes regularly based on seasonal ingredients and availability.

"The program has been a win-win," explains The Boathouse Owner Kevin Healy. “For The Boathouse, it’s our way of educating our customers about the need to protect our waterways. For our customers, it's an easy way to donate — and a tasty way, I might add. For FOJRP, its a wonderful, consistent source of funds, especially in today’s challenging economic times.”

In fact, since the program began, FOJRP has received over $9000 in funds, which plays a huge role in helping them achieve their operating goals.

“Wow! The Friends are overwhelmed with gratitude toward The Boathouse for this [program],” explains Maureen Egan, FOJRP board member and former president. “We’ve used some of the money to update and improve our website — an ongoing task — and had park trailhead kiosks built and maps replaced. It’s the difference between wanting to make improvements and being able to do them!”

The Watershed Specials will continue to run throughout the year. So, if you’ve not yet headed over to The Boathouse and supported the cause, you still have time. But, if you want their current special featuring roasted rockfish with fingerling potatoes, baby carrots, watercress chimichurri and beet chow-chow, better head on over there, today!