Canal Origins Park Community Stewardship Workdays

10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the second Saturday of the month between May and October

Friends of the Chicago River and the McKinley Park Development Council proudly partner as community stewards of Canal Origins Park along Bubbly Creek in Chicago's Southwest Side. Together we lead litter cleanups and restoration workdays to protect the native plants and wildlife that call the park home. Each year volunteers remove invasive plants from natural areas, install native plant plugs across the park, and collect hundreds of pounds of trash from the river's edge. Our organizations also host community events and partner with local organizations to provide public events such as free fishing, tabling, and community art workshops. 

The Chicago Park District's Community Stewardship Program connects communities with urban natural areas with over 400 stewardship days annually held across more than 35 sites. Find a community stewardship workday near you here!

In 2025, Friends led 23 litter cleanups that engaged 493 volunteers at Canal Origins Park funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Five Star Urban Waters Restoration Program. Across these cleanups, volunteers collected 1,829 pounds of trash. Friends tracked the makeup of the litter to learn that more than 61% of trash collected at the park was made of plastic, including a significant portion of polystyrene foam. This is a bit less than the average makeup of plastic in the Chicago River, which is closer to 85% according to Dr. Tim Hoellein of Loyola University Chicago. Friends has partnered with Dr. Hoellein as part of our Litter Free Chicago-Calumet River Initiative.