Giraffe Heroes Database
Letter "D"
Entries beginning with "D"
High school student Stacey Dack of Northfield MN fought drug and alcohol abuse in her community by raising enough money over her summer vacation to create a program offering free cab rides for those unable to drive safely.
Home when commended: North America, US, Minnesota Home now: North America, US, Minnesota Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
Sam Daley-Harris of Washington DC was a symphony percussionist and music teacher when he stuck his neck out to become an unpaid grassroots lobbyist for the poor. Harris's organization, RESULTS, is credited with helping save the lives of 3 million kids around the world every year, and has been called "pound for pound, the most effective lobbying group in washington."
Home when commended: North America, US, Washington DC Home now: North America, US, Washington DC Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
Robert Dalton of Davidsonville MD is a member of Vietnam Revisited, a crew of veterans intent on rebuilding the country they once fought in. They began by removing land mines they laid 25 years ago, and went on to help supply medical facilities in Vietnam. (See also Nate Genna, Bill Johnson, Frank Noe and Mike Wallace.)
Home when commended: North America, US, Maryland Home now: North America, US, Maryland Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
Physician Preston Darby of San Angelo TX nearly lost his practice and definitely risked his life to give medical care to the Afghans fighting the Soviet army. Disguised as an Afghan, Darby sneaked through Soviet border guards and went through combat zones to reach the Afghans' mountain hideouts and care for their wounded.
Home when commended: North America, US, Texas Home now: North America, US, Texas Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
Valorie Darling of Spokane WA read an article about the horrifying living conditions in Romanian orphanages and decided that she had to do something, even though she was only 11 years old. She and several friends created a company whose profits from making and selling candles provided warm clothes and food for the Romanian children. (See also Sara DeCristoforo, Sara Richardson, and Arielle Ring.)
Home when commended: North America, US, Washington Home now: North America, US, Washington Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
Janet Dauble of Arcadia CA has devoted her life to providing both material and moral support to people with severe chemical sensitivities, starting her support long before such medical problems were recognized by mainstream medicine.
Home when commended: North America, US, California Home now: North America, US, California Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
For decades Rob Davis, a successful entrepreneur, has left his Villanova PA home again and again to go into dangerous neighborhoods around the country and give free job-hunting seminars to the unemployed, ex-cons, vets and people with disabilities. A former inner-city gang leader, Davis convinces others they too can turn their lives around.
Home when commended: North America, US, Pennsylvania Home now: North America, US, Pennsylvania Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
Journalist Marian Dawson Schneter of Whitehall MI alerted the community and pressured public officials to take action when Giraffe Warren Dobson challenged a major chemical corporation that was using his hometown as a toxic dump site.
Home when commended: North America, US, Michigan Home now: North America, US, Michigan Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
Alejandro Junco De La Vega, of Monterey, Mexico, editor of El Norte, one of the last independent newspapers left in Mexico, has been exposing political corruption and electoral fraud since 1974, despite threats, harassment, and a government freeze on his newsprint supply.
Home when commended: Central America, Mexico Home now: Central America, Mexico Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
When she declared her bisexuality, Gina De Vries found herself scorned by classmates and vilified by adults who assumed she was a child molester. As the youngest member of a human rights task force in San Francisco, De Vries spoke out for more understanding and support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender children.
Home when commended: North America, US, California Home now: North America, US, California Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
|
Jeff DeBonis of Eugene OR jeopardized his career in the US Forest Service to speak out for reform. Believing that the Service should take the lead in stewarding our national forests instead of being the "tree cutting agency," DeBonis started AFSEEE, the Association of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics.
Home when commended: North America, US, Washington DC Home now: North America, US, Washington DC Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
Sara DeCristoforo of Spokane WA read an article about the horrifying living conditions in Romanian orphanages and decided that she had to do something, even though she was only 11 years old. She and several friends created a company whose profits from making and selling candles provided warm clothes and food for the Romanian children. (See also Sara Richardson, Valorie Darling and Arielle Ring.)
Home when commended: North America, US, Washington Home now: North America, US, Washington Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
Jesse DeerInWater of Vian OK was appalled when a powerful company announced plans to drill wells near nuclear waste storage facilities. She organized Native Americans for a Clean Environment, which has stopped the waste storage plan and is pressing other environmental issues. DeerInWater was fired from her hairdressing job; she is studying to be an environmental lawyer.
Home when commended: North America, US, Oklahoma Home now: North America, US, Oklahoma Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
Morris Dees of Montgomery AL, an attorney and founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, ignored repeated death threats to successfully sue the Ku Klux Klan and win their financial assets for the family of a young African American lynched by Klan members. He is now using the legal precedent to ruin other hate organizations.
Home when commended: North America, US, Alabama Home now: North America, US, Alabama Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
Father Ignatius DeGroot defied city laws against sheltering the homeless by using his church in Stockton CA as a shelter. Promising to stop only when the city took care of the people, DeGroot forced the city to build a shelter.
Home when commended: North America, US, California Home now: North America, US, California Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
John DeMarco of Philadelphia PA was just 13 when he took a stand against racism, reporting and later testifying against a neighbor who had painted racial epithets on a home a black family was considering buying. Neighbors have been tough on young DeMarco, but the racist was convicted.
Home when commended: North America, US, Pennsylvania Home now: North America, US, Pennsylvania Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
|
| Powered by Sigsiu.NET |  |
Find Giraffes
YOU & THE FOUNDER
From time to time, Ann Medlock, this Project's founder, does a brief but inspiring email called Heads Up. You can check out past copies here. They're so good (and so free) we bet you'll join the Heads Up circle and send them on to friends & family.
For further wit & wisdom from Ann, check out her speeches, radio commentaries and OpEds.
1 Way 2 Help
Please note
We're adding stories and photos to the Giraffe Heroes database everyday. If information isn't visible yet, know that we're working on it.