New Orleans Rowing Club

Located on Bayou St. John, the New Orleans Rowing Club (NORC) is a volunteer-run nonprofit which provides rowing instruction for all ages and skill levels in a positive and inclusive environment. NORC is committed to making rowing and its benefits - camaraderie, fitness, character development, water safety skills, and more - accessible to everyone. We create a space where youth and adults from diverse backgrounds can learn, grow, and reach for their goals together.

This GiveNOLA Day, we are asking for your support to build our first boathouse!

The New Orleans Rowing Club has doubled in size in just three years-70 youth, 60 adults, and over 100 newcomers trying rowing each year. We've launched the first-ever Co-Ed HBCU rowing program at Xavier and teamed up with Breast Cancer Survivors. All of these programs are outside year round, without bathrooms, shelter, or electricity. Everything we do is a trip away for restrooms, electricity, storage of equipment. Every practice canceled for thunderstorms is a daily complication for parents and schools to transport athletes. Every trip spent to and from a bathroom is time a rower could be developing their athleticism. Every time a light or battery has lost a charge, is a time we can't go out on the water.

It's time to make plans for a boathouse, working with City Park to develop a space for all water recreation and programming to find a home in this city. Your support will help generate the first building dedicated to these activities on Bayou St John in over 75 years! Help us lay the foundation for a permanent, inclusive boathouse and a stronger, more accessible rowing future for New Orleans.