Rejoice: workdays on August 29 and September 26!

Great news! The Chicago Park District is allowing limited access for community stewardship volunteers at lakefront parks. We’ll have the chance for 2 workdays this season — late August and late September — but notably with 1) limited capacity for volunteers and 2) a few important health and safety restrictions.

• Saturday August 29, 9-11am: Community stewardship workday
• Saturday Sept 26, 9-11am: Community stewardship workday

Our tasks will be to get reacquainted with a site that has undergone lots of changes this year, collect trash, and remove invasive species — all while safe and physically distanced.

1) The total group size is capped at 10 people so you must RSVP here, and attend only after your RSVP has been confirmed. First come first served until the 10-person capacity is reached. Unfortunately we cannot accommodate drop-in attendance for these workdays.

2) Health and safety restrictions:

• Please do not attend if you or someone in your household isn’t feeling well, is in quarantine, or if you have visited a state affected by the emergency travel order in the last 14 days.
• Volunteers must stay at least 6 feet from each other or any other park attendee at all times.
• Face coverings (with nose and mouth covered) must be worn at all times in the natural area, regardless of physical distancing.
• Gloves must be worn at all times in the natural area. It is recommended you bring your own gloves, but there will be some available for one time use.
• Gloves are not a substitute for good handwashing hygiene so you should wash your hands before and after visiting the natural area and minimize touching anything that someone else may have touched.
• Hand sanitizer will not be provided so it is recommended you bring your own hand sanitizer.
• Please bring your own pen to sign in and to sign the annual volunteer waiver, so that no pens need to be shared among volunteers.

I am confident these guidelines will not impede a successful and fun workday and look forward to seeing you soon at Rainbow Beach Dunes!

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Want to support the Rainbow Beach Park community and learn about all kinds of events and programs in the Park? Join the Rainbow Beach Park Advisory Council, attend a meeting on the 4th Monday of the month at 6:30, and certainly visit their Facebook page to learn more.

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Rainbow Beach Park runs parallel to South Shore Drive from 75th-79th Streets.
By foot, or from the #6 bus stop, walk east from South Shore Dr. on 77th St.
By car, you can only access the park at the southern end, from Hwy 41 at Farragut.

• From the north/west, follow Hwy 41 east as it splits from South Shore Drive at 79th St. Turn left into the park at Farragut.

• From the south, follow Hwy 41 north and turn right on Farragut, just before the intersection of 79th/South Shore.

• Once in the park, go past the stop sign and water filtration plant and turn right at the next opportunity, into the parking lot before the Fieldhouse.

Go to the far right corner of the first parking lot/southern end of the beach to the entrance of the Nature Area. Meet at the banner!
Find directions and a map here.