Join us and volunteer
Our Volunteer Day program is one of the many ways Clean Lakes Alliance works with partners, supporters, and community members to build awareness and take action for our lakes. Running from spring to fall each year, this near-weekly program connects interested businesses and organizations with a location around the Yahara Watershed for a few hours of hands-on, lake-benefiting work.
We partner with local organizations that act as host-site partners to facilitate this volunteerism and connect those who want to come together to make a positive difference in the health of our lakes. Host site partners include Dane County Parks, City of Madison Parks, City of Middleton Parks & Recreation, Friends of Pheasant Branch Conservancy, Holy Wisdom Monastery, UW-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve, UW-Madison Arboretum, Monona Parks Department, and the Village of McFarland.
2025 accomplishments
In 2025, we worked with 23 businesses and organizations at more than 20 different project locations around the Yahara chain of lakes. Projects included:
- Beach and park cleanups at Vilas Park, Tenney Park, McDaniel Park, Schluter Beach, and San Damiano
- Native plantings at Holy Wisdom Monastery and Olbrich Park
- Seed collections at Cherokee Marsh – North Unit, UW-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve, Holy Wisdom Monastery, Graber Pond Conservancy, Prairie Ridge Conservation Park, Lake Farm County Park, and Marsh Woods Park
- Invasive species removal at Turville Point Conservation Park, UW Lakeshore Nature Preserve, Pheasant Branch Conservancy, Vilas Park, Parisi Park, Holy Wisdom Monastery, UW Lakeshore Nature Preserve
- Indigenous Mound restoration projects at UW Lakeshore Nature Preserve and Hudson Park
Clean Lakes Alliance is always working to make our lakes the center of our community, and these volunteer events can have far-reaching benefits for the health and wellness of both our lakes and the people that live, work, and play around them. A huge thank you to our volunteers and host site partners for their dedication to our lakes and being a part of our Volunteer Day program!
For individual volunteer opportunities, please see our general volunteering page.
How to sign up
We kindly request that all participating businesses, organizations, and municipalities become donating Lake Partners. This helps us continue to facilitate Volunteer Days as well as fund other important projects in the watershed.
Every year, we create a schedule of available projects, locations, and dates within the community to better allow participating groups to select where, when, and what type of project they’d like to complete. Please contact Clean Lakes Alliance’s Watershed Programs Manager, Caitlin McAleavey, to learn more about participating in a Volunteer Day.
Thank you to our 2024 participants and host-site partners!
Participating businesses and organizations: Affiliated Engineers, Associated Bank, Baird & Associates, CG Schmidt, Destination Madison, EcoWash, Exact Sciences, FAC Services, LLC, Frank Productions, Heartland Credit Union, Hovde Foundation, Hy Cite Enterprises, LLC, Hydrite Chemical Company, Illumina Inc., Interiors by B, Lake Ridge Bank, Lands’ End, Lerdahl Inspired Workplace Interiors, Perkins Coie LLP, Sprinkman Real Estate, United Way, UW Credit Union, Virent Inc., WKOW, and many other volunteers!
Participating host-site partners: Dane County Parks, City of Madison Parks, City of Middleton Parks & Recreation, Friends of Pheasant Branch Conservancy, Holy Wisdom Monastery, UW-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve, UW-Madison Arboretum, Monona Parks Department, and the Village of McFarland.
