Bayshore Center at Bivalve received a $27,500 Impact100 South Jersey general operating grant in 2024. The organization advances the understanding of human impact on New Jersey’s aquatic environment through education, advocacy, and programming. They chose to apply their grant to the project they had outlined in their core mission grant application — STEM and Humanities On-the-Water Learning. They are working to create new partnerships focused on bringing youth to the Bayshore Center and providing hands-on experiential learning for Cumberland County schools, youth organizations & non-profits.
The Impact100 SJ funds were used towards the following:
- Camp: An education consultant was hired in May 2024 to develop a summer camp curriculum, purchase supplies, and pilot/instruct a one-week session during the week of August 5, 2024. Four scholarships were awarded in 2024, and the camp launched a 5-week program for summer 2025.
- Bayshore Center brought in young people from schools, youth organizations, and nonprofits and exposed them to their 5 Pillars of Community Education during field trips, outreach programs and camp:
- Oyster Reefs & Ecosystems
- Coastal Resilience
- Bayshore History & Culture
- Marine Technology
- Sustainability & Stewardship
One parent praised the 2024 pilot camp program and lamented that she would not be able to attend the full 5 weeks in 2025. But the center fixed that with a scholarship.
“Bayshore has been a blessing. My daughter came out of her shell a little more here. Last summer she came home so inspired by the teacher that her dream is to now work at Bayshore. I want to continue to feed her passion for all that you do! We planned on sending her this year but…we have to scale back on all the things. Allowing her to go would be a blessing to our family because she has been looking forward to it since last summer. She loves to learn and bring that information back to make a difference here. Her gourd bird house is hanging and checked daily so it also benefits our community wildlife by her passion being ignited by Bayshore!”
~ Brandi Burns
Brandi’s daughter Coraline, who attended the 2024 Summer Camp, will be attending the 2025 camp on a scholarship, made possible, in part, by the 2024 Impact100 SJ grant!
