Chad Pregracke

Chad Pregracke

Chad Pregracke

Chad Pregracke, an Illinois man who has dedicated his life to cleaning the Mississippi River and other U.S. Waterways, was named the 2013 CNN Hero of the Year on Tuesday night.

Pregracke organizes community cleanups across the country through his nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters. About 70,000 volunteers have pitched in, helping Pregracke collect more than 7 million pounds of trash in the past 15 years.

"The garbage got into the water one piece at a time," Pregracke said earlier this year. "And that's the only way it's going to come out."

For being named CNN Hero of the Year, Pregracke receives $250,000 to continue his work. That is in addition to the $50,000 that he and the rest of this year's top 10 CNN Heroes receive for their extraordinary efforts to change the world. Ref. CNN