Over the weekend the Buffalo Maritime Center joined forces with Buffalo Urban Outdoor Foundation (BUOY – see more) to conduct a rather unusual experiment. You see, the Maritime Center is constantly enlisting Buffalo’s youth to partake in building “six hour” canoes. The program was designed to introduce young people of all economic and social spheres to the lost art of building trades. It was also designed to raise a person’s confidence by creating a scenario where students not only build the boats, they also row/sail them. You would think that that end goal would be sufficient, and that the program would end there.
On Friday, I spoke to BUOY’s Executive Director Kate Mini, who told me that by partnering with the Maritime Center, the students not only build the “six hour” canoes, they then take them out onto the waters in order to conduct environmental water samplings. By doing this, young people are given the chance to learn about maritime practices from A to Z. They learn how to build a boat, navigate our waters and how to understand the importance of our fragile ecosystem.
^Photo: Samekh Harris Reed – McKinley High School
What we are seeing here is another example of different organizations coming together to help reach common goals. These two groups, with two different missions, have found a way to work with each other, in a mutually beneficial way. In the end, it’s Buffalo’s youth that benefits the most, thanks to the dedication of people like Kate Mini and John Montague (Maritime Center) who understand the importance of team work.