Urban Rivers is often joined by large volunteer groups, usually at the Wild Mile. Sometimes these groups are from fellow nonprofits and sometimes from companies organizing volunteer days for their employees. When the groups want to divide up, with some volunteers helping pick up litter on kayaks and others helping in the gardens simultaneously, it's difficult for Urban Rivers staff to assist both groups at once. That's where regular Urban Rivers volunteers could be really helpful.
Here is what you could do:
In the gardens, the main tasks are making sure volunteers are weeding the right plants and that everyone is wearing a life vest and generally being safe if walking on the gardens. It would be helpful if you already have a pretty good eye for our weeds, but if you want to do this and are still inexperienced, just email stephen@urbanriv.org after signing up for a shift. We can usually meetup 20 minutes or so before the group arrives to go over the current needs in the gardens.
OR (You don't need to do both)
On the kayaks, the main tasks would be making sure people are staying safe, answering questions, and getting people back around when they should be. It would be helpful if you've spent a lot of time out there volunteering for kayak clean-ups before. Ideally, you'd have taken one of the kayak rescue classes, but that's not required.
Here are the up coming volunteer days that we could use help with:
- Friday April 10th 10:00-1:00 PM - Day one of Burns & McDonnell at the Wild Mile
- Tuesday April 14th 9:30-2:30 PM - Keep America Beautiful event at the Wild Mile
- Feel free to only come for the first or second half of the day. If so, just email stephen@urbanriv.org for a heads-up.
- Either way, there should be time to eat some of the lunch provided by El Tragón Taqueria.
- Kayaking possible if weather is nice enough
- Friday April 17th 2:00-5:30 PM - Northwestern's Water Research Center at the Wild Mile
- Kayaking if weather is nice enough
- Kayaking if weather is nice enough
- Tuesday April 21st 9:00-Noon - American College of Surgeons at Wild Mile
- Tuesday April 21st 2:00-5:00 PM - Illinois Power Agency at Wild Mile
- Thursday April 23rd 9:00-3:00 - Mondelēz at the Wild Mile
- Details still being worked out
- Details still being worked out
- Friday April 24th 9:00-Noon - Fine Tune at the Wild Mile
- Sunday April 26th 2:00-5:00 PM - Day two of Burns & McDonnell at the Wild Mile
- Wednesday April 29th 1:00-5:00 PM - Rakuten at the Wild Mile
- Includes kayaking
- Includes kayaking
- Thursday April 30th 12:00-4:00 PM - Docusign at the Wild Mile
Please note that all of these volunteer days start with a tour of the Wild Mile. If you want to attend that tour, you are more than welcome to, but if not, feel free to show up 30 minutes or so after the start time.
