They're so recently chosen by our volunteer jury, we don't have their stories on our new website yet. But the links here will take you to more information about each of them.
Sarah Cambers, Sabrina Coons, Jessica Shelton & Megan Stewart for creating and sustaining the Life in a Jar project
David Corner, for using his pension to run his own international aid agency, the Gathering Project
Cynthia Fitzgerald, for blowing the whistle on the scamming of Medicare and Medicaid by corporations
Sarah Herr, for founding and spreading The Sparkle Effect, cheer squads of girls who are usually sidelined from high school activities
Doug Johnston, for building bridges between religions in many of the world's most dangerous areas.
Betty Makoni, for pioneering the Girl Child Network in Zimbabwe, providing safe havens and a future to girls escaping from abuse
Alberto Mora, for standing against the US use of torture when he was General Counsel to the US Navy
Luma Mufleh, for championing the refugee kids of Clarkston, Georgia, coaching their soccer games and their young lives
Leslie Schwartz, for using her skills as a novelist to teach LA gang members the power of the pen
Luis Soriano, for his burro-borne book service to the children
of Colombia's mountain villages
"Nothing is so contagious as an example.
We never do great good or great evil
without bringing about more of the same
on the part of others."
~ La Rochefoucauld
With these new Giraffes, there are now even more fine examples of courageous compassion in the world. Let's hope they are indeed contagious and great good is done by people who see their stories. I'll go work on getting those stories onto our website now.
As always, please send this on to people who could use a spark in their day. (Do you know
anyone who couldn't?) If you received this from a friend, please sign on for your own copy of
future Heads Up issues. Back issues are here. Check them out ~ they're good. ~ AM