San Diego River Park Foundation

The San Diego River Park Foundation was established in 2001 as a 501(c)(3) public benefit nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a river-long system of parks, open spaces, and community places that celebrate the River's unique natural and cultural legacy and enhance the quality of life of those that live, work and play in the area. The River Park Foundation is also committed to caring for the river and its watershed. Our focus is on working to build a better future for the river by advancing public education, stewardship activities, and engaging businesses, organizations, and the community to celebrate our namesake river.

The foundation for successful stewardship of the river is creating connections between people and nature. We believe that people are more likely to care about something if they have an emotional connection to it. With the ultimate goal of bettering the river and creating the River Park for the community, the River Park Foundation has developed programs to coordinate volunteers to work on clean-ups, trail enhancement, invasive plant removal, water quality monitoring, and river surveys. The River Park Foundation also provides opportunities for volunteers to work on murals, in public gardens, go hiking, and support capital campaigns to preserve the river’s headwaters. This variety of experiences allows for many different avenues to get involved and make a difference!

Through our programs, our volunteers have made remarkable achievements:

· Removed more than one million pounds of trash from the river

· Organized more than 17,000 hours of community service in 2009

· Survey and monitor over 30 miles of the San Diego River

· Organized volunteers to paint 5 murals along the San Diego River

· Protected over 600 acres of critical habitat through our land acquisition programs

We organize a variety of volunteer events nearly every week. To find out more about our upcoming events, please visit: http://www.sandiegoriver.org/calendar.php