Giraffe Heroes Database
Letter "K"
Entries beginning with "K"
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When Phyllis & Kip Keino took a dead friend’s children into their farmhouse in Eldoret, Kenya, word got around; people brought them other orphans until they were raising 61 kids in addition to their own seven. Kip, a world-renowned runner, and Phyllis, a nurse, are devoting themselves to the children instead of cashing in on his fame.
Home when commended: Africa, Kenya Home now: Africa, Kenya Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Joe Kellman of Chicago IL used his own money and all his business contacts to found the Corporate Community School in one of Chicago's worst neighborhoods. Tuition-free CCS, which functions as a community center as well as a school, was the first school in the US run entirely by business. Kellman sees it as a model for public/private collaborations that could transform public education.
Home when commended: North America, US, Illinois Home now: North America, US, Illinois Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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When Cynthia Kelly, a financial assistant at Yale University in New Haven CT, heard about the Potato Project, an organization that distributes free potatoes to the poor, she signed on to distribute over 50,000 pounds a month in New Haven. She went on to add other food and household goods to her distribution system.
Home when commended: North America, US, Connecticut Home now: North America, US, Connecticut Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Reverend Leon Kelly of Denver CO spends almost every night on the streets, heading off violence and recruiting kids for his Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives program. Kelly, who was serving time in prison for dealing drugs when he decided to study for the ministry, says his mission is to get kids off a path that too often leads to prison, or to the grave.
Home when commended: North America, US, Colorado Home now: North America, US, Colorado Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Ranya Kelly of Arvada CO discovered that a shoe store chain was discarding unsold shoes and boots in their trash dumpster. She pulled them out and took them to a homeless shelter. The store said she was stealing and threatened to have her arrested, but Kelly kept right on pulling shoes out of the dumpster and delivering them to people who needed them. She now collects and gives to the poor discarded shoes and many other useful items from cooperating Denver area stores.
Home when commended: North America, US, Colorado Home now: North America, US, Colorado Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Stetson Kennedy of Jacksonville FL was rejected by the military in 1943, so the folklorist/union organizer decided to wage his own battle against fascism, on the homefront. For years this grandson of a Confederate officer risked his life by working as a freelance undercover agent in the Ku Klux Klan, feeding information about the Klan and other racist/terrorist groups to reporters and the law. KKK watchers have called him "the single most important factor in preventing a post-war revival of the Klan."
Home when commended: North America, US, Florida Home now: North America, US, Florida Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Teacher Anne Kenney packed up her safe and secure life in this country and headed for Tanzania, where she's bringing a solid education and new hope to girls in a village school. Going against the local custom of suppressing females, Kenney gives her students the tools for careers and the self-confidence to use them. First step?—the girls have opened and are running a library for the community.
Home when commended: North America, US, Arizona Home now: North America, US, California Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Wife and mom Eleanor Kesim got sick of the corruption in her hometown of Elkhart IN so she ran for mayor, again and again, until she finally won and cleaned the town up, despite threats against her and the murders of reformer mayors in nearby towns.
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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Chellie Kew traveled throughout Africa, often alone, photographing AIDS orphans to raise awareness of their courage and beauty, as well as their plight. She created a book of her photos, giving the proceeds to a nonprofit she founded to build schools and orphanages for AIDS orphans and do AIDS-prevention education.
Home when commended: North America, US, California Home now: North America, US, Missouri Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Bob Drake, Rev. Dave Parker and all the volunteers of Keystone Enterprises helped turn their high unemployment mining community from a passive mindset into the excitement and dignity of entrepreneurship. Keystone members create employment opportunities for themselves and show others how to do the same.
Gender: G (group) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Edwin Keyt of Shelton WA left the security of his teaching job to carry on the work of Ben Linder, the American engineer killed by the Contras in Nicaragua. Though he had planned to spend just a few months training machinists there, Keyt stayed on five years to assist, despite recurring illnesses and long-term homesickness.
Home when commended: North America, US, Washington Home now: North America, US, Washington Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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The bond of friendship between Azim Khamisa and Ples Felix is strong, resolute, and born out of shared tragedy—Felix's grandson shot and killed Khamisa's son. Now the father and the grandfather work together to end youth violence and to reform the criminal justice system. When children kill, "there are victims at both ends of a gun," says Khamisa.
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.
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In Freetown, Sierra Leone, Vinod Khatumal manages an import/export business, but spends much of his time and income assisting farmers displaced by a rebellion that spilled into the country from Liberia. Khatumal goes into combat zones to bring people food, fuel, and transportation.
Home when commended: Africa, Sierra Leone Home now: Africa, Sierra Leone Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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The members of Kids Against Pollution are determined to “save the earth, not just for us, but for future generations.” KAP grew to over a thousand chapters in the US and abroad. In every chapter, kids give up their free time to do such demanding tasks as lobbying legislators, doing research, giving testimony, organizing letter writing campaigns and giving speeches. Meg Chandler and Richard Luzzi of Closter and Moriah Nolan-Rapatz of Browerville, Minnesota, were especially noted for their leadership roles in the organization.
Home when commended: North America, US, New York Home now: North America, US, New York Gender: G (group) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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After Toronto student Craig Kielburger met a young Pakistani who toured North America describing the enslavement of millions of children in his country, Kielburger went to Pakistan to investigate and organized an international campaign to free the children.
Home when commended: North America, Canada, Ontario Home now: North America, Canada, Ontario Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Dolly Kiffin of London UK lived in a decaying housing project that was divided along generational and racial lines. Instead of complaining, she started a youth association that brought black and white residents together, provided jobs for the unemployed and meals for senior citizens. Kiffin worked long hours and underwent intense harassment in the process, but the project gained a new, respectful sense of community.
Home when commended: Europe, England Home now: Europe, England Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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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.
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