Overview

Each year, over 1,500 volunteers join the River Rangers to clean, beautify and restore the Woonasquatucket River Greenway. They work hard to make the Greenway a special place to play and experience nature. We begin each season with a big volunteer Clean Days Kickoff event in the spring, followed by ongoing opportunities throughout the year, where friends and neighbors join us in service.

Here at WRWC, we like to get our hands dirty. Projects include planting, painting, building, invasive plant management, litter-sweeps, graffiti removal, spring weeding, mulch mobbing, in-water cleanups and more. Volunteers, working hand-in-hand with River Rangers, have been the driving force behind transforming the Greenway and its parks. In addition to doing good for the community, volunteers give their time and receive education on the history and culture of the Greenway. Community and corporate groups can either join a pre-scheduled Community Clean Day or Create Your Own Clean Day. Thanks to the dedication and work of so many, the Greenway continues to be a true catalyst for change and revitalization in Rhode Island. Please support WRWC so we can continue to mobilize thousands of volunteers as we continue the stunning transformation of our river.

For more information:
Nicole Vance
nvance@wrwc.org

Clean Days on the Greenway Kickoff

Join hundreds of volunteers, public officials, sponsors and the WRWC River Rangers as we start the season right and blast through spring cleanup projects along the Greenway! Clean Days Kickoff features a volunteer thank you party and an invitation for continued participation with our ongoing events.

Save The Date for 2020 Clean Days on the Greenway Kickoff

Saturday in late April 2020 (date coming soon!)

Clean Days continues throughout the year and includes dozens of volunteer opportunities. Contact us to find the event that works for you.

Community Clean Days

All year long, WRWC River Rangers schedule service days that focus on major areas of the Greenway across multiple cities and towns. We invite friends, neighbors, and dedicated volunteers to help beautify our communities. After the work is done, our volunteers are treated to a delicious lunch or dinner! Community Clean Days are family-friendly and are usually held on evenings and weekends. Check our calendar today to see what’s happening next near you!

Create Your Own Clean Days

Can’t make it to a Community Clean Day? Volunteer groups can Create Your Own Clean Days on the Greenway! Our River Rangers work with groups large and small, including businesses, schools, other non-profits, and individuals. We usually work with groups weekdays 9am-1pm or 12pm-4pm. And longer, if you have a hard-working group that brings their own lunch or snacks!

Contact Nicole today!

A Brief History

Since the 1990s, WRWC has relied on volunteers to help shape the Greenway. Clean Days on the Greenway has roots in both small neighborhood cleanup projects, and big, all-out cleanup events. Since the 1990s, youth from the Olneyville, Manton and Hartford neighborhoods have worked as volunteers and then as Junior River Rangers, helping with cleanups and preparing the way for the Woonasquatucket Greenway Project. Additional volunteers from neighborhoods surrounding the River have joined in to pull refuse from the river and clean up dumping grounds in what would become the parks of today. Most of all, they brought the fun and spirit of youth to the area. After learning about the great work being done, even more groups joined the effort.

With the construction of the Greenway in the early 2000’s, more businesses, schools and other non-profits joined the WRWC and Junior River Rangers on special projects and regular cleanups. In 2010, WRWC hosted the first official Clean Days on the Greenway as a singular event. Since then, WRWC has continued to rally annually, often right around Earth Day, to bring hundreds of volunteers together to prepare for spring. In 2015, Clean Days became a branded, year-long program. Today, we continue our efforts, large and small, throughout the year, and Clean Days on the Greenway has become one of the largest, on-going volunteer cleanup and restoration efforts in the region.