East Moline, IL/November 26, 2013 - On Sunday, December 1, 2013 Living Lands & Waters will host a viewing party for the airing of CNN Heroes: An All Star Tribute at the Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center located at 2021 State Street in Bettendorf, IA. The doors will open at 6pm and the show will air at 7pm. Chad Pregracke, the 2013 CNN Hero of the Year, will give a special thanks to those in attendance at 6:30pm. This event is open to the public and seating is limited. Please arrive early to ensure a seat!
Pregracke has dedicated his life to cleaning up the Mississippi River and other American waterways. Since 1998, nearly 70,000 volunteers have helped Pregracke and his non-profit remove more than 7 million pounds of garbage from 23 rivers across the country.
On, Tuesday, November 19th, stars of film, television, music and theater came to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on Tuesday night to pay tribute to the Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2013 and congratulate CNN Hero of the Year Chad Pregracke of East Moline, Illinois, whose selection was announced by Anderson Cooper, host of the seventh Annual CNN Heroes: An All Star Tribute. The Tribute will air on Sunday, December 1st at 7pm CST.
Earlier in the evening, Jason Biggs, one of the stars of 'Orange is the New Black' presented Pregracke with an award as one of the Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2013. Each of the Top 10 CNN Heroes received $50,000 in recognition of their work, and Pregracke's nonprofit, Living Lands and Waters, will receive an additional $250,000 grant.
The evening's celebrity presenters were Sarah Silverman, Kelly Ripa, Michael Strahan, Mariska Hargitay, Alan Cumming, Allison Williams, Shay Mitchell, Jason Biggs, Jeffrey Wright, Josh Lucas, and Ne-Yo, each of whom introduced a story about the honorees.
The 2013 Top 10 CNN Heroes include Dale Beatty (Statesville, NC), Georges Bwelle (Yaoundé, Cameroon), Robin Emmons (Charlotte, NC), Danielle Gletow (Trenton, NJ), Tawanda Jones (Camden, NJ), Richard Nares (San Diego, CA), Kakenya Ntaiya (Enoosaen, Kenya), Estella Pyfrom (West Palm Beach, FL), and Laura Stachel (Berkeley, CA).
Contributing their talents to the festive night were pop singer Sarah Bareilles, who performed a touching rendition of her current hit "Brave," and stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan. Another highlight of the evening was a performance by members of CNN Hero Tawanda Jones' girls drill team, Camden Sophisticated Sisters, to Beyonce's "Get Me Bodied."
CNN Heroes is a multi-platform campaign that shines a spotlight on individuals who go to extraordinary lengths to serve others. Since its inception, CNN Heroes has received over 50,000 submissions from more than 100 countries and profiled over 200 heroes.
About Living Lands & Waters and Chad Pregracke
Chad Pregracke started Living Lands & Waters in 1998 as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the beautification and restoration of America's major rivers and to the education of people about environmental issues. From his single boat beginning, LL&W has grown to an internationally known organization with a fleet of barges and workboats. LL&W engages thousands of volunteers each year in river cleanups, hands-on environmental education workshops, the Great Mississippi River Cleanup, Adopt-a-River-Mile programs and the Million Trees Project.
www.livinglandsandwaters.org
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