In 1998 at the age of 23, Chad founded
Living Lands & Waters. Today, the organization has grown to include a full staff and
fleet of equipment. The crew averages nine states a year along the Mississippi,
Illinois and Ohio Rivers, as well as many of their tributaries. Since the
projects inception, Chad, his crew, and over 60,000 volunteers have collected
over 6 million pounds of debris from our nations greatest rivers. Most
recently, Chad expanded the mission of the organization to include Big River
Educational Outreach, The MillionTrees Project, and the Adopt-a-River Mile
programs.
Chad (an Illinois boy) has made it
to the finals for the CNN Heroes of the Year. To find out more and vote, please
review the following CNN site:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/2013.heroes/chad.pregracke.html
Voting closes on November 17th, 2013.
What a great source of pride and inspiration for Illinois, our rivers, our country and our
future.
