Giraffe Heroes Database
Letter "S"
Entries beginning with "S"
Daryl Smith of Huntsville AL has dermatomyositis, a disease that has left him severely disabled, his body weighing only 40 pounds. Confined to bed, he earned his GED, Bachelors and Masters degrees by telephone and became a phone counselor to others with severe disabilities.
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.
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Esther Smith of Little Rock AR opened a day-treatment program to assist recovering alcoholics like herself. Then Smith opened her own home to recovering women with no other place to stay. Over a hundred women, six or seven at a time, have lived with Smith, who supports the program with her Social Security check and small donations.
Home when commended: North America, US, Arkansas Home now: North America, US, Arkansas Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Felix Smith of Carmichael CA, a US Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, blew the whistle on his agency's attempts to cover up the contamination of the Kesterson Wildlife Refuge by runoff from a federally subsidized irrigation system. Realizing that the entire local ecosystem was in danger, Smith leaked the facts to the press and to local residents whose concerns were being dismissed by officials.
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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Francis Smith of Falmouth MA is a plumber, a fisherman and a dauntless advocate for his favorite fishing ground, the Quashnet River. Smith has successfully organized citizens and lobbyied legislators to clean up the river—and keep it clean.
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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When Jerry Smith of Mt. Sinai NY was a TVA engineer, he blew the whistle on safety hazards at the TVA’s Watts Bar nuclear power plant. Smith was harassed, threatened, and fired for his persistent reports of safety violations and his testimony before Congress that resulted in a mandate to shutdown all TVA reactors.
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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Ken Smith of Boston MA was a driving force in the creation of the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans, Inc. The shelter is open 24 hours a day to provide emergency food, clothing, shelter, counseling on VA benefits, rehab, job training and employment, housing, and referrals for drug and alcohol treatment. The shelter has 50 full-time employees, most of them former clients, and houses more than 150 homeless vets a night. (See also Mark Helberg, Peace Foxx Jr. & Howard Levine.)
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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Nathaniel Smith of Atlanta GA, a former drug dealer, helped other young people get out of the drug-dealing business, often at great physical risk to himself. Smith followed through by acting as a big brother to young ex-dealers.
Home when commended: North America, US, Georgia Home now: North America, US, Oklahoma Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Nico Smith of Pretoria, South Africa is a Dutch Reform minister who left his secure position at a conservative seminary to minister to a black township, where he and his wife, the only whites in a population of 300,000, work to end apartheid.
Home when commended: Africa, South Africa Home now: Africa, South Africa Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Norvell Smith of Chicago IL had the courage to speak out against gangs after three of her schoomates were killed in gang violence. She traveled to schools all over Chicago, encouraging students to resist the lure of gang membership. Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Ron Smith of Bloomington IL was hired to replace a fired city chemist, David Schalk. Schalk had insisted that city water be tested for toxins and that PCB–contaminated wastes found in several illegal landfills not be incinerated. Illegally fired, he was replaced by Smith, who made the same findings and the same demands; Smith resigned after seven years of seeing his efforts to protect the city ignored and overruled.
Home when commended: North America, US, Indiana Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Cathy Sneed of San Francisco CA, a social worker at the County jail, was once hospitalized with a near-fatal kidney disease. When she left the hospital, she talked her boss into letting her start an eight acre garden on the grounds of the jail; she knew little about gardening herself, but now she’s got former crack dealers growing leeks, garlic, and peppermint tea, and planting trees to beautify the rougher downtown areas.
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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David Snow of Riverside CA quit his job and flew to Washington to get a deadly toy banned from the market. Snow, whose daughter was killed by a "toy" lawn dart, became a national voice for the protection of all children from the many unsafe toys and household items that can be found in stores.
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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John Socky and Cliff Garner, construction workers at the Savannah River nuclear plant, reported a 200-gallon spill of heavy water, but the company recorded it as 20. The two men saw so many such safety problems that they pushed their superiors for adherence to safe-practices rules. When management refused to take action, Socky and Garner went to Giraffe Frances Close Hart's Energy Research Foundation and exposed the spill, leading to a federal investigation of the plant’s safety procedures.
Home when commended: North America, US, Georgia Home now: North America, US, Georgia Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Lyle Solla-Yates of Miami FL was just 8 when he started a kids’ environmental club called Pals of Wildlife. The Pals launched a local recycling program and their 'Earth Day Birthday' event raised $800 for the Children's Rainforest Alliance.
Home when commended: North America, US, Florida Home now: North America, US, Virginia Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Rivka Solomon didn’t let being bedridden from a debilitating disease stop her from researching, writing, and sharing inspiring stories of courageous women. She and her mother, Bobbi Ausubel, founded the nonprofit That Takes Ovaries, a theatrical and open mic event that brings stories of gutsy gals to audiences around the world and empowers women to become their most courageous female selves.
Home when commended: North America, US, Massachusetts Home now: North America, US, Massachusetts Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Sharon Sonner was ordered to “backhaul” cooking oil and fruit juices in the tanker truck she and partner Dave Helzer used to transport toxic chemicals. They refused, tried to stop the practice and blew the whistle when it continued.
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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