The Mississippi River was literally Chad Pregracke’s backyard while growing up outside of Hampton, Illinois. The son of educators and river enthusiasts, KeeKee and Gary Pregracke, Chad and his older brother, Brent, spent the majority of their time on, in, and around the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.
During his summer breaks from high school and college, Chad worked on the river--primarily as a commercial shell diver for the cultured pearl industry, but also as a commercial fisherman and barge hand. Typically working miles away from home, he camped on the islands and shorelines of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers to save money and fuel. It was during this time that Chad began to realize how neglected the rivers were, with the unsightly and toxic accumulation of trash along their banks. At the age of 17, he started making calls to government agencies to notify them of the problem, assuming someone would take care of it. Year after year passed by and the problem only worsened. In 1997 Chad decided that, if no one else was going to clean up the river, he would. One river, one piece of garbage at a time.
In 1998 at the age of 23, Chad founded Living Lands & Waters, a not-for-profit organization based in East Moline, Illinois, dedicated to cleaning up and preserving our nation’s rivers. Today, the organization has grown to include 10 full-time employees and a fleet of 4 barges, a towboat, 6 workboats, 2 skid steers, 5 work trucks and a large box truck. With this equipment, the crew is able to travel and work in an average of 9 states a year along the Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, and Potomac Rivers, as well as many of their tributaries. Since the project’s inception, Chad, his crew, and over 60,000 volunteers have collected over 6 million pounds of debris from our nation’s 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’s vision, charisma, non-stop work ethic and natural leadership have garnered him an abundance of awards and honors over the years. Most notably, Chad was the recipient of the Jefferson Award for Public Service, America’s version of the Nobel Prize, in June 2002. Chad accepted this award in the United States Supreme Court in Washington D.C. with other award recipients: Rudolph Giuliani, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Lilly Tartikoff.
Whenever he can get away from his rigorous work schedule, Chad enjoys fishing, hunting, skateboarding, snowboarding, wind surfing, and recycling used and salvaged materials by incorporating them into new projects.
The Mississippi River was literally Chad Pregracke’s backyard while growing up outside of Hampton, Illinois. The son of educators and river enthusiasts, KeeKee and Gary Pregracke, Chad and his older brother, Brent, spent the majority of their time on, in, and around the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.
In 1998 at the age of 23, Chad founded Living Lands & Waters, a not-for-profit organization based in East Moline, Illinois, dedicated to cleaning up and preserving our nation’s rivers. Today, the organization has grown to include 10 full-time employees and a fleet of 4 barges, a towboat, 6 workboats, 2 skid steers, 5 work trucks and a large box truck. With this equipment, the crew is able to travel and work in an average of 9 states a year along the Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, and Potomac Rivers, as well as many of their tributaries. Since the project’s inception, Chad, his crew, and over 60,000 volunteers have collected over 6 million pounds of debris from our nation’s 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.
