Rocking the Boat uses boats to help young people challenged by severe economic, educational, and social disadvantage develop into empowered and responsible adults. Participating during the school-day, after-school, and summer in hands-on wooden boatbuilding and on-water education programs, young people in the South Bronx develop the self-confidence to set ambitious goals and the skills needed to achieve them. The organization has just spent $1.2 million to transform 812 Edgewater Road—a vacant 6,000 square foot warehouse—into a huge boatbuilding shop, classroom, offices, and library.

With the Whitehall Award, Rocking the Boat is proud to recognize exemplary community leaders and prominent individuals and organizations with a demonstrated commitment to experiential education, environmentalism, and youth development. The honor is named for the distinctively elegant and practical wooden boat design that forms the majority of Rocking the Boat's hand-built fleet. The Whitehall represents a "golden period" of maritime design and craftsmanship, its reliable and beautiful form remaining largely consistent since 1690.

Sims Metal Management, with its tradition of recycling, philanthropy, and community engagement, is an ideal Whitehall Awardee. A company ahead of its time, Sims started recycling more than 90 years ago and grew into a global enterprise, now handling 13 million tons of recyclables a year (including New York City's municipal plastic, glass, and metal) and employing more than 5,500 people. Rocking the Boat is proud to be the company's next door neighbor in Hunts Point and grateful for the past three and a half years (and counting!) of support for special events, community boat launch celebrations, and the occasional relocation of our 40-foot, four-ton shipping containers used to store boats.