Rebecca Doran: Shows the Many Ways to Save The Bay

by Jackie Carlson, membership and individual giving manager

Longtime Save The Bay member, swimmer, and supporter Rebecca Doran is, for the 12th time, taking the plunge to swim 1.7 nautical miles across Narragansett Bay as part of the 42nd Annual Save The Bay Swim in August. The water and Narragansett Bay have always been a large part of life for Rebecca, who began competitively swimming at age seven. She recalls spending countless hours as a child enjoying the Bay, swimming, of course, but also quahogging and kneeboarding with her brothers and exploring various spots around the Bay, including Prudence, Patience and Block Islands, Newport and Jamestown. To this day, Rebecca enjoys the Bay all times of the year, and has added yoga, kayaking, paddle-boarding and surfing to her Bay activity list. 

“In addition to the summer, I visit the water frequently in fall and winter; I take every opportunity I get to be outside and near the water,” Rebecca said. 

Because of her lifelong connection to Narragansett Bay, fundraising for the Save The Bay Swim has always been important to Rebecca, who completed her first Save The Bay Swim at age 16 at the recommendation of her father. After college in California, where she continued her open-water swimming, Rebecca returned to Rhode Island and participated in the 2009 Save The Bay Swim and every Swim since. When last year’s Swim was canceled due to high winds, she did her “alternative swim” in Newport from First Beach to Second Beach, once again raising important funds to support Save The Bay’s mission and work. 

Even beyond the Swim, Rebecca has been supporting Save The Bay for more than 30 years, attending other fundraising events, including Taste of The Bay, Artists for the Bay and the International Coastal Cleanup. She also recruits family and friends to come out with us for Seal Tours and visits to the Exploration Center and Aquarium. She does her part developing future stewards of the Bay by promoting our summer BayCamps among her social circles. Through her activities with us, Rebecca shows the many different, active ways to support Save The Bay. 

And while Rebecca does her part, her employer, Amica Mutual Insurance Company, increases her impact by participating in a generous Matching Gifts program for its employees. Many of Save The Bay’s members, donors, supporters, volunteers and swimmers take advantage of their own companies Matching Gifts programs as well. We are so very fortunate to count Rebecca, and all our supporters, as part of the Save The Bay family, and would like to thank her for her tremendous support of Save The Bay over the years.