Living Lands and Waters held their annual barge party on Thursday, August 7, 2014.
It was the second year in a row that the party has been at Schwiebert Park in Rock Island. Participants enjoyed live music and tours of the barge that crews will use in the Xtreme Cleanup set for Saturday, August 9, 2014.
The group, made up of more than 1,300 volunteers, planned to use a barge to clean up trash in the Mississippi River.
"It's nice to come home because we have so much support here,"Living Lands and Waters Founder and East Moline native Chad Pregracke said during last year's barge party. "The Quad Cities is what helped build this organization, and with the barge party, and the Xtream Cleanup and the River Roots Live, we absolutely love it."
Volunteer Dakota Keller said she was excited to participate in Xtreme Cleanup.
"You see the barge over there, and you're like, 'Oh, man, look at how much more trash we can pick up,'" Keller said, "It energizes you."
The 2014 barge party, which is the group's only annual fundraising event, sold out.
Saturday's cleanup was set to start at 8:30 a.m. at various points along the Mississippi River.