Christmas comes but once a year, and so does an unparalleled spirit of giving. While it seems that the givers get far less attention than the takers of the world, the terrorists, the mass shooters, the hate crime committers; the givers are as strong as ever. This December, CNN produced its ninth annual CNN Heroes tribute, honoring some pretty awesome givers. Here are the inspiring stories of the top ten CNN Heroes.
1. Dr. Jim Withers
For 20 years, Withers has offered free healthcare to the homeless in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In order to win the trust of those who might be suspicious of his overly generous services, Dr. Withers dressed like a homeless person, muddying clothes and rubbing dirt in his hair. His mission became Street Medicine Institute, helping communities worldwide establish similar programs of their own and bringing medical care to many thousands.
2. Richard Joyner
After watching many of his parishioners die from preventable diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure, this pastor founded his own community garden in Conetoe, North Carolina. Today his nonprofit Conetoe Family Life Center manages over 20 plots of land, and with the help of local young people, 50,000 pounds of food are harvested each year to give low-income locals healthy, free options.
3. Monique Pool
Who doesn’t find sloths adorable? Otherwise known as “the sloth lady,” Pool has dedicated her life to rehabilitating and rescuing sloths among other mammals in the rain forests of Suriname. The conservation and protection efforts of her nonprofit Green Heritage Fund Suriname has earned her Hero title and a cool nickname.
4. Sean Gobin
Through his nonprofit “Warrior Hike,” Iraq and Afghanistan combat veteran Gobin helps other vets walk off the horrific memories that come along with war. Warrior Hike provides vets with all accommodations and supplies needed for the journey for anywhere from two to six months, a venture that Gobin found to be utterly saving for himself.
5. Bhagwati Agrawal
In Agrawal’s home region of India, water scarcity is a way of life. Women and children walk many miles in search of water. His nonprofit organization Sustainable Innovations has created a network of rooftops, gutters, pipes, and underground reservoirs to bring safe drinking water to 10,000 inhabitants of India’s driest region.
6. Rochelle Ripley
It’s no secret that ever since we came over and forced the Native American people out of their homeland, a number of them have struggled. Through Ripley’s nonprofit organization Hawkwing, $9 million in health services, shelter, education, and food has been given to Native American reservations.
7. Kim Carter
After bouncing between having no home and calling jail home, Carter decided she needed a change. Her nonprofit, Time For Change, helps women in situations such as this take control of their lives. Carter’s program has helped over 800 “invisible people,” a name Carter has given homeless women and children because of society’s tendency to overlook them.
8. Jody Farley-Berens
After firsthand experiencing watching a friend pass away, Farley-Berens began Singleton Moms to help single parents with cancer cover doctors' appointments, copays, surgeries, and prescriptions, which are all vital, regardless of the patient’s inability to work. Her organization has helped hundreds in the Phoenix area.
9. Dr. Daniel Ivankovich
After watching those in Chicago’s troubled neighborhoods go without medical care they absolutely needed because they were under-insured, Ivankovich dedicated his life to treating patients regardless of their ability to pay. His nonprofit OnePatient Global Health Initiative has helped more than 100,000 people.
10. Maggie Doyne, CNN Hero of the Year
Ten years ago, Doyne decided to backpack across the world before going to college. During a stop in Nepal, Doyne encountered women and children struggling to survive the effects of a decade-long civil war. Then 18-year-old Doyne asked her parents to wire her life’s savings in babysitting money to her where she purchased land to build Kopila Valley Children's Home. Her BlinkNow Foundation has now opened a school for Nepalese students.
There you have it, ten ordinary Americans who decided to seize the day and make the world a better place. They had no superpowers other than sheer dedication, and their hard work has placed them among the 2015 CNN Heroes.
