FREEPORT, Ill. (WIFR) – Every summer, dozens of volunteer’s head to the Pecatonica River with one goal in mind: leaving it cleaner than they found it. But for many, it’s what brings them back year after year that matters most.
What started as a simple idea has grown into the United Sportsmen’s Youth Foundation’s biggest community service project. Now in its 24th year, the annual cleanup brings volunteers together each summer to cover nearly 50 miles of the Pecatonica River.
United Sportsmen’s Youth Foundation Director Brendan Walsh said, “We looked around, and there was no somebody so then we said why don’t we do something?”…