St. Charles organization to host Fox River cleanup event Sept. 21

The River Corridor Foundation of St. Charles will host the sixth annual volunteer Fox River cleanup event as part of It’s Our Fox River Day on Sept. 21.

During It’s Our Fox River Day, communities along the Fox River from Waukesha, Wisconsin, to Ottawa, Illinois, host their own volunteer river cleanup events. The effort is coordinated by Friends of the Fox River on the third Saturday of September every year.

The St. Charles effort is coordinated in partnership with the River Corridor Foundation, the St. Charles Park District and The Conservation Foundation.

The event in St. Charles will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. Volunteer check-in will be in Ferson Creek Park off Route 31 across from Ferson Creek Road.

Volunteer registration is open online at stcrivercorridor.org/river_cleanup.php. Walk-in volunteers are welcome, but registering is encouraged. Trash bags and collection tools will be provided. Volunteers should provide their own gloves and reusable water bottle.

Paddling clubs are joining the St. Charles cleanup effort to tackle litter on the water and experienced canoeists and kayakers are welcome to bring their own boats. St. Charles Park District staff will support paddlers, transport larger debris and dispose of trash gathered by volunteers.

“Thanks to our partnership with The Conservation Foundation and the St. Charles Park District, we’ve been able to grow this event year over year,” RCF President Laurel Moad said in a news release. “We’re grateful for the volunteers who continue to join us to clean up our shorelines and pull debris from the water. We measure success by our joint efforts to have a healthier Fox River.”

Last year, more than 170 volunteers helped out at cleanup locations in St. Charles, resulting in the city’s largest Fox River trash collection event.

For more information and to coordinate large volunteer groups, contact Rich Anderson at ra628@sbcglobal.net.