Northeastern co-op students win $2,500 for Charles River group

Three Northeastern University students working a co-op at MFS Investment Management pitched the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) to company leadership and won a $2,500 donation for the organization.

William Leavitt, Arabella Hubbauer and Izzy Heide earned second place in MFS Investment Management's Charitable Giving Pitch Program, CRWA announced Oct. 27. The team chose CRWA as the cause they wanted to champion, pitching the nonprofit's work toward what the organization called "a clean Charles."

CRWA said the program gives co-op students an opportunity to help direct charitable dollars to causes they choose while strengthening their research, collaboration and presentation skills.

The donation follows other recent funding for the watershed. In August, the Healey-Driscoll administration awarded $750,000 in ECO One Stop funds for climate resilience and restoration projects across the Charles River watershed. That round included $249,000 for Needham to fund flood mitigation and water quality improvements at Linden Street, a site that serves elderly and disabled public housing residents, the sixth-grade High Rock School and several residential properties.