Long Beach residents can join their fellow Angelenos this weekend in helping clean up along the Los Angeles River.
The Friends of the Los Angeles River is hosting its 35th annual Great LA River Cleanup on Saturday, Oct. 11 and Oct. 18. Registration is open for all ages, and shifts start at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on both weekends. Community members have an opportunity to engage hands-on with a living part of the river’s ecosystem, organizers said.
The nonprofit’s mission is to build capacity for communities, students and future leaders to advocate for nature, climate and equity along the LA River, according to a press release. The Friends of the LA River also serves as a leading force in educating youth, guiding policy, and connecting communities to the river.
For over three decades, Angelenos have come together to care for the river through the Great LA River Cleanup. What began as a grassroots effort has grown into the largest urban river cleanup in the country, organizers said, powered by thousands of volunteers each year.
“For 35 years, neighbors from communities along all 51 miles of the LA River have come together to care for this vital place,” Natasha Keefer, board chair of the Friends of the LA River, said in a statement. “The Great LA River Cleanup is both a celebration of our city’s diversity and a reminder of what we can accomplish when Angelenos unite around a common purpose. By caring for the river, we are also caring for the health and future of Los Angeles itself.”
The Friends of the Los Angeles River is hosting its 35th annual Great LA River Cleanup this month. On Saturday, Oct. 11, Long Beach residents can help clean up along the river under the Willow Street Bridge. (Photo courtesy of Friends of the Los Angeles River)
The Friends of the Los Angeles River is hosting its 35th annual Great LA River Cleanup this month. On Saturday, Oct. 11, Long Beach residents can help clean up along the river under the Willow Street Bridge. (Photo courtesy of Friends of the Los Angeles River)
The Friends of the Los Angeles River is hosting its 35th annual Great LA River Cleanup this month. On Saturday, Oct. 11, Long Beach residents can help clean up along the river under the Willow Street Bridge. (Photo courtesy of Friends of the Los Angeles River)
The Friends of the Los Angeles River is hosting its 35th annual Great LA River Cleanup this month. On Saturday, Oct. 11, Long Beach residents can help clean up along the river under the Willow Street Bridge. (Photo courtesy of Friends of the Los Angeles River)
The Friends of the Los Angeles River is hosting its 35th annual Great LA River Cleanup this month. On Saturday, Oct. 11, Long Beach residents can help clean up along the river under the Willow Street Bridge. (Photo courtesy of Friends of the Los Angeles River)
Show Caption
1 of 5
The Friends of the Los Angeles River is hosting its 35th annual Great LA River Cleanup this month. On Saturday, Oct. 11, Long Beach residents can help clean up along the river under the Willow Street Bridge. (Photo courtesy of Friends of the Los Angeles River)
This year, cleanups will span four sites across two weekends, giving everyone a chance to participate. Volunteers will pick up trash to help restore habitat, improve water quality, and protect wildlife that depend on the river.
On Saturday, Oct. 11, Long Beach residents can join the Friends under the Willow Street Bridge, 2526 De Forest Ave., for the cleanup.
This is where the river widens into a channel framed by concrete banks yet still lined with willows, cattails, and waterbirds. This stretch of the lower river shows how much life endures in an urban waterway, organizers said. Clearing trash and debris will help create more space for plants and wildlife to thrive and help Long Beach communities stay connected to their river.
That same day, a cleanup will be happening at Bond Park in Los Angeles. Bond Park sits alongside a rare soft-bottom stretch of the river, flowing right next to one of LA’s most beloved green spaces. This cleanup is already at capacity, according to the nonprofit’s website.
The following weekend, on Saturday, Oct. 18, volunteers will clean up along the Sepulveda Basin, where wide fields meet one of the most important natural stretches of the river. This soft-bottom reach is home to tall willows, herons, egrets, and countless smaller species that depend on the basin’s wetlands, organizers said. This cleanup is also at capacity.
More volunteers, though, are needed for the cleanup at Compton Creek, 2858 E. Del Amo Blvd., on Oct. 18. Compton Creek flows through the heart of the city, and it’s one of the easiest cleanup sites to reach, organizers said, just steps from the Metro A Line. Along its banks, cattails and willows give shelter to birds and create space for nature to persist.
Friends of the LA River will provide gloves and trash bags at the sites; however, organizers encourage participants to bring old pillow cases or buckets to help reduce the use of single-use plastic bags. They will also have some snacks and water on-site, but volunteers are encouraged to bring their own reusable water bottles. Closed-toe shoes and clothes that can get dirty are also recommended.
Cleaning up and clearing these areas helps ensure that the river’s wildlife and the communities that come there to play, walk, and gather can share a cleaner, healthier space, organizers said.
To register for the cleanup and get more information, visit support.folar.org/campaign/719322/donate.