Giraffe Heroes Database
Letter "D"
Entries beginning with "D"
Maureen Denham of Pendleton IN organized her own anti-drug program at her school, AIM (Alternatives in Motion), to help fellow students steer clear of drugs. Maureen endured verbal and written threats, but her program created a strong anti-drug movement at the school.
Home when commended: North America, US, Indiana Home now: North America, US, Indiana Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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When LaVaun Dennett was a school principal in Washington State, she risked her career to improve the education of her students. To reduce class sizes and mainstream special ed students, Dennett moved staff members out of the library and offices into the classrooms—as teachers. Dennett's innovation paid off, and her students' grades went way up.
Home when commended: North America, US, Washington Home now: North America, US, Idaho Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Julie DeRossi, Marti Aggeler, and Tolbert McCarroll of Santa Rosa CA, members of the Starcross Community, endured community ostracism to care for AIDS babies. They have been foster parents to unwanted children for years. The Starcross Community is also involved in advocacy work for children with AIDS, street outreach for high-risk women, and care of HIV positive orphans in Romania.
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.
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Robert DeSena, a teacher in Brooklyn NY, decided that his students needed more from him than English Lit. He started the Council For Unity, a club whose student members commit themselves to reaching across racial lines to do peer mediation and community service. Thanks to DeSena's endless hours, the Council has turned around hundreds of young lives and has spread into other communities.
Home when commended: North America, US, New York Home now: North America, US, New York Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Former Veterans' Administration employee Maude DeVictor of San Mateo CA was the first champion of Vietnam vets sickened by Agent Orange, pressing the government to acknowledge the problem and become accountable. Though fired by the VA, DeVictor helped win a settlement for Agent Orange victims and their families.
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.
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Carrie Barefoot Dickerson of Claremore OK sacrificed her life savings, mortgaged her farm, lost friends, and suffered a stress-related heart attack in her efforts to stop the building of the Black Fox nuclear power plant. After seven years of hard work by Dickerson, plans for the nuclear power plant were abandoned.
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.
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Tina Dierkes, Marcia Clark and Sue Lewallen are conscientious Oregon teachers who insisted on getting toxic substances out of their school building despite administrative resistance to their efforts. They asked that dangerous, leaking light fixtures be replaced and the school decontaminated. When they were ignored, they alerted the EPA and the press. The entire district’s schools have now been cleared of PCBs and asbestos.
Home when commended: North America, US, Oregon Home now: North America, US, Oregon Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Kathy DiFiore of Ramsey NJ was fined by the state and shunned by neighbors for opening her own home to unwed mothers. DiFiore works endless hours as a full-time housemother and fundraiser, providing housing and counseling for mothers and babies at her four shelters.
Home when commended: North America, US, New Jersey Home now: North America, US, New Jersey Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Carl DiMaiti of Medford MA led his family's efforts to make amends to Boston's Mission Hill neighborhood after an "unidentified black gunman" was falsely accused of murdering Carl's sister, Carol Stuart. DiMaiti started a scholarship fund for neighborhood young people and went door-to-door apologizing to residents.
Home when commended: North America, US, Massachusetts Home now: North America, US, Massachusetts Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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The Dineh Resistors of Flagstaff AZ have led the Navajo people in their resistance to being relocated, continually putting their lives on the line to protect their sacred homeland and livestock from US Government confiscation.
Home when commended: North America, US, Arizona Home now: North America, US, Arizona Gender: G (group) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Kathy DiPeri of San Luis Obispo CA lost her job as an environmental educator when she refused to lead school field trips to a marine lab at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. Concerned for the children's safety and citing frequent safety violations at the plant, she took a stand, despite the plant's financial contributions to the local school system and its influence as a major employer in the area.
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.
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Warren Dobson of Molton MI took on Hooker Chemicals when the company treated his hometown like a toxic dump site.
Home when commended: North America, US, Michigan Home now: North America, US, Michigan Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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High school teacher Sandy Dore has taken a firm stand against racism in British Columbia—even though it's meant standing up to the Aryan Nation. An ardent speaker and activist, Dore faces off with white supremacist groups and decries their youth-recruitment practices.
Home when commended: North America, Canada, BC Home now: North America, Canada, BC Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Since she was ten, Emily Douglas of Columbus OH has made sure needed food, clothing, books and toys reach the children of poverty-plagued Appalachia through her own nonprofit organization, Grandma's Gifts. In its first eight years, Grandma's Gifts distributed a half-million dollars worth of goods and services. Douglas said she was just getting started.
Home when commended: North America, US, Ohio Home now: North America, US, Ohio Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Marjory Stoneman Douglas of Coconut Grove FL was born in 1890, when Miami was an isolated outpost and the Everglades were just a blank spot on the map. For nearly 50 years, the writer devoted herself to protecting the "Glades" from the state's explosive growth.
Home when commended: North America, US, Florida Home now: North America, US, Florida Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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