Guy Polhemus of New York NY put aside his work as a writer and actor to start "We Can," an on-the-street operation that redeems empty cans collected by homeless people working to support themselves. Polhemus funded the operation out of his own small bank account while battling beverage companies to honor the bottle return laws.
Home when commended: North America, US, New York Home now: North America, US, Pennsylvania Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Truckers Jim and Rikki Pomerenke of Yakima WA blew the whistle on the backhauling of toxic chemicals in food tankers. Thanks to their testimony, the US Senate passed legislation prohibiting the dangerous practice.
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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Truckers Jim and Rikki Pomerenke of Yakima WA blew the whistle on the backhauling of toxic chemicals in food tankers. Thanks to their testimony, the US Senate passed legislation prohibiting the dangerous practice.
Home when commended: North America, US, Washington Home now: North America, US, Washington Gender: C (couple) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Truckers Rikki and Jim Pomerenke of Yakima WA blew the whistle on the backhauling of toxic chemicals in food tankers. Thanks to their testimony, the US Senate passed legislation prohibiting the dangerous practice.
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.
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Sister Irma Dulce Pontes of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, left her life in a privileged family decades ago, to serve the poor. Though in her 90's, Pontes still presses public officials relentlessly and begs daily to support the hospital, orphanage and job-training programs she runs.
Home when commended: South America, Brazil Home now: South America, Brazil Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Jim Pope of McLean VA blew the whistle on the FAA's costly but ineffective mid-air collision-avoidance program. Pope lost his FAA job by going public with the agency's decision not to use a system that was more effective and far less costly.
Home when commended: North America, US, Virginia Home now: North America, US, Virginia Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Carol and Hurt Porter Jr. of Houston spend countless hours and much of their modest income feeding other people's kids. When the money gets low, Carol moonlights as a nurse. The Porters began their feeding program, Kid-Care, in their kitchen, preparing meals from both donated and government subsidy food that they distribute in the first children's "Meals On Wheels" program in the nation.
Home when commended: North America, US, Texas Home now: North America, US, Texas Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Hurt and Carol Porter Jr. of Houston spend countless hours and much of their modest income feeding other people's kids. When the money gets low, Carol moonlights as a nurse. The Porters began their feeding program, Kid-Care, in their kitchen, preparing meals from both donated and government subsidy food that they distribute in the first children's "Meals On Wheels" program in the nation.
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.
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Carol and Hurt Porter Jr. of Houston spend countless hours and much of their modest income feeding other people's kids. When the money gets low, Carol moonlights as a nurse. The Porters began their feeding program, Kid-Care, in their kitchen, preparing meals from both donated and government subsidy food that they distribute in the first children's "Meals On Wheels" program in the nation.
Home when commended: North America, US, Texas Home now: North America, US, Texas Gender: C (couple) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Linda Porter of Argyle TX blew the whistle on her company's unsafe handling of toxic wastes. She was then ordered to sand asbestos coatings off the walls of a closed room until she was too sick to go on. Porter was laid off and has since developed tumors in her throat.
Home when commended: North America, US, Texas Home now: North America, US, Texas Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Darrell Posey of Munich, Germany, an ethnobotanist, endangered his career and his physical safety by joining forces with the Kaiapo tribe of Brazil in their battle to preserve their homeland in the vanishing Amazonian rainforest. Posey was charged with sedition by the Brazilian government. But Posey and the Kaiapo were so successful at changing world opinion that Posey was later invited to become a special advisor to the Brazilian government on environmental affairs.
Home when commended: Europe, Germany Home now: Europe, Germany Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Businessman Ron Post of Salem OR responded to an immense need in Third World countries by forming Northwest Medical Teams, volunteer doctors and nurses who help the victims of famine, earthquakes and war. Post works fulltime on recruiting and logistics and joins team members on missions to Third World countries in peril.
Home when commended: North America, US, Oregon Home now: North America, US, Oregon Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Kim Posthuma is one of a group of teenaged single mothers who give speeches to their peers, urging them not to make "untimely choices" about sex. Describing their own lives to show how difficult it is to be a teen raising a child, the girls of the School-Age Parent Speakers Bureau remind their peers that sex can have serious consequences. (See also Liz Beal, Tara Boomsma, Debbie Brewer, Amy Conrad, Sherry Gradel, Heather Lee, June Loomis, Joell Pick, Amanda Pritchard, and Becky Winker)
Home when commended: North America, US, Wisconsin Home now: North America, US, Wisconsin Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Charlie Potter of Tacoma WA took on the revitalization of a community center in his housing project. Putting in over 3,500 volunteer hours, Potter organized sports, Scout Troops, classes in languages and parenting, and block watches that have shut down five crack houses.
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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As founder of the International Institute of Culture and Language, Texas resident Elsa Potter has invested everything into bringing world cultures closer together. Potter's life and life savings have gone into multicultural concerts, education programs and performances mixing new ideas, customs and traditions into areas where few cross-cultural experiences existed before.
Home when commended: North America, US, Texas Home now: Central America, Belize Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Amanda Pritchard is one of a group of teenaged single mothers who give speeches to their peers, urging them not to make "untimely choices" about sex. Describing their own lives to show how difficult it is to be a teen raising a child, the girls of the School-Age Parent Speakers Bureau remind their peers that sex can have serious consequences. (See also Liz Beal, Tara Boomsma, Debbie Brewer, Amy Conrad, Sherry Gradel, Heather Lee, June Loomis, Joell Pick, Kim Posthuma, and Becky Winker)
Home when commended: North America, US, Wisconsin Home now: North America, US, Wisconsin Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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1 Way 2 Help
FIND GIRAFFES
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.
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.