Russ Gremel bought 20 shares of Walgreens stock for $1,000 in 1953. More than six decades later, that investment was worth over $2 million. Rather than keep the money for himself, the Chicago resident donated the shares to the Illinois Audubon Society to help protect wildlife habitat.
The donation funded a 395-acre sanctuary in Illinois that would carry his name. When the property was dedicated in 2017, Gremel was 98 years old. He had spent much of his life working with young people, teaching them about nature and encouraging them to care for the land.
