Community Outreach

ACBA’s member organizations are distinguished by their commitment to community outreach. They have operated rowing and paddling programs for over a decade at the current site, bringing watersport opportunities to thousands of children and adults, specifically to D.C. residents, including our neighbors along the Anacostia River. Our non-motorized recreational boating programs and other events and services are an invaluable resource to the surrounding community, bringing watersport opportunities to thousands of children and adults each year. As such, ACBA is one of the few existing initiatives now fulfilling the vision of the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, by constantly introducing new Washingtonians to the beauty and potential of the Anacostia River.
The numerous community outreach programs offered by ACBA’s member organizations, in partnership with schools and D.C. Government agencies on other community outreach programs, include:
  • Free Learn-to-Row and Learn-to-Paddle Clinics
  • Adult Competitive and Recreational Programs
  • Programs for Senior Citizens
  • Programs for Breast Cancer Survivors
  • "Breeding" of Rowing Programs at Local High Schools Otherwise Unable to Afford Them
  • Summer Youth Rowing Camps, providing watersport opportunities to dozens of minority and low-income children each year 
  • Environmental Programs run by the Anacostia Watershed Society 
  • Annual support given for over a decade to the D.C. Department of the Environment's "Anacostia River Environmental Fair for D.C. Schools" by OARS, Capital Rowing Club, NCAWPA's Dragon Boat Section and the Anacostia Watershed Society, working to make it a perennial success 
  • Host Site for the St. Peter’s Interparish School Anacostia River Classroom 
  • Teaching of rowing to emotionally handicapped children from Kingsbury Middle School 
  • Support for Non-Boating Programs, such as the “Trips for Kids” cycling program 
  • Host for Competitive Regattas, includes buoyed race course, certified referees, hundreds of competitors and spectators from local and regional clubs and schools 
  • Host site for on water training for summer teacher training workshops in environmental monitoring techniques sponsored by Gallaudet University and the Clerc Center Summer Institute
These programs are open to any interested member of the public. The Anacostia Watershed Society, a Founding Member of ACBA, also uses the site for water quality monitoring, clean-up, shoreline and habitat restoration, and other environmental projects on the Anacostia.