Chicago Earth Day Celebrations Undeterred by Cold Weather

Despite cold temperatures, hundreds of Chicagoans cleaned public spaces at Washington Park on Saturday morning to make a difference.

“I believe that God made the environment, we should be able to keep it clean,” said volunteer Evangelist Latice Porter.

Volunteers celebrated Earth Day, a national and international holiday aimed at protecting the environment.

“We have to help do our part to preserve, we want to go to [the] park to play in it, we might as well keep it clean,” Porter said.

The impacts of preserving the environment now would benefit future generations, said another volunteer Deborah Shannon.

“I think the importance of keeping our environment clean is because we have adults, young children are going to be adults, eventually, and they are going to need to know we cared about them, so we are preserving it for them,”she explained.

The event, which was hosted by the Obama Foundation, also bussed people to Jackson Park and Rainbow Beach to clean up. It was just one of many that took place across the city.

At Semillas de Justicia Garden in Little Village, people celebrated through food, art and more cleaning.

Farmers like Luz Rios planted seeds there to help the environment.

“It helps with the pollution,” she said.

Not only community members, but city leaders, including Mayor Lori Lightfoot, participated too.

“The symbolism of coming together with community I think it’s worth it’s weight in gold,” she said at an event in Englewood.