Providence College Students Raise Over $5,000 in Support of Mass Oyster

A group of students at Providence College left no stone unturned in their efforts to raise money to support the Massachusetts Oyster Project’s shell recycling program and other efforts to improve water quality and enhance the coastal environment. Luke McQuaid, Ava Biafore, Caroline Brown, Justin McNiff, and Mackenzie Godley, in the college’s Organizational Theory course, launched a dizzying array of grassroots fundraising efforts this spring including a cleanup at the Providence River, a bake sale, fundraisers and raffles at Olds Social Club and Fish Co, Instagram stories fundraising (check them out at @respect_ya_mother) and a GoFundMe, they raised over $5,000 in just a few weeks!

Luke McQuaid told us they came together as a group of likeminded people who feel passionately about the environment. They really honed in on our shell recycling project on the Cape because it combines environmental stewardship and reducing waste. “We wanted to help an organization that is making a real difference in our environment and Mass Oyster is doing exactly that”. 

$5,000 is a meaningful contribution to our volunteer driven programs in coastal Massachusetts that will help get thousands of oysters into Massachusetts waters and divert thousands of pounds of oyster shells from the landfill. We are deeply appreciative of Luke, Ava, Caroline, Justin and Mackenzie for their hard work, creativity and passion in drumming up these funds to power our grassroots initiatives to improve water quality, increase the diversity of sea life and mitigate the effects of climate change. And we hope their efforts will inspire others to not only chip in for the cause but also roll up their sleeves for the often unsung work of picking up trash and leaving our shorelines and coastal waters better and cleaner with every visit. If students like these are the future, then the future is bright.