Giraffe Heroes Database
Letter "S"
Entries beginning with "S"
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Luis Soriano is a schoolteacher in Colombia so dedicated to spreading knowledge that he packs books into his country's bandit-ridden mountains via burro, teaching kids in remote villages to read and to love learning. His "Biblioburro" is low-cost, high-risk and a huge hit with rural kids who have no other access to learning.
Home when commended: South America, Columbia Home now: South America, Columbia Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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South Africa Now (Global Vision) The staff and volunteers of "South Africa Now" risked their lives and pocketbooks to bring the world the true story of apartheid, despite the South African government's ban on news reports. (South Africa Now later became Global Vision. See also founder Danny Schecter.)
Home when commended: Africa, South Africa Home now: North America, US, New York Gender: G (group) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Charles Spann of Baltimore MD did a 180 turn, from deal-making on street corners to running a small, legitimate company. It was a steep learning curve that Spann needed to climb and he took considerable flak from lifelong friends. Spann says it's been worth it to show other young inner-city African Americans that there's another way.
Home when commended: North America, US, Maryland Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Gene Spanos of Rosemont IL is a member of Vietnam Revisited, a crew of veterans rebuilding the countrywhere they once fought. They began by removing land mines they laid 25 years ago, and went on to help supply Vietnamese medical facilities with desperately needed equipment. (See also Nate Genna, Robert Dalton, Bill Johnson, Frank Noe and Mike Wallace.)
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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Jim Sparkman of Manchester Center VT has put in endless hours and drawn considerable fire for insisting that the local government enforce every letter of every law on new development, ensuring that this historic rural community is not destroyed.
Home when commended: North America, US, Vermont Home now: North America, US, Vermont Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Ed Spence of Siler City NC has led his community in a drive for a drug-free town, despite threats from drug dealers. Spence has held town meetings, sponsored drug-awareness programs in the schools and put pressure on the courts to give dealers tougher sentences.
Home when commended: North America, US, North Carolina Home now: North America, US, North Carolina Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Joanne Spencer of Seattle WA was the only juror who insisted on the innocence of a man reviled by other members of the jury, by police, the press, the public and even her own family. When he left jail, Spencer volunteered to be one of the people who were responsible for him, and found herself tailed by police. The man was later proved innocent, just as she had insisted.
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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Michael Jon Spencer, a classical pianist, put his own career on hold to start and run Hospital Audiences, Inc., making the arts accessible to the disabled, the hospitalized and the institutionalized of New York City. Spencer not only brings the arts to the institutions, he also brings people in beds and wheelchairs to public performances.
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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John Shelby Spong of Newark NJ might not be considered exceptional for promoting the job advancement of women and homosexuals, and for asserting that homosexuality is not a matter of choice—if he weren't an Episcopal Bishop. Spong has received numerous death threats, and when he ordained a self-professed gay priest, there were some in the church who called for his removal from office.
Home when commended: North America, US, New Jersey Home now: North America, US, New Jersey Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Chris Sprowal of Philadelphia PA founded the National Union of the Homeless, which soon had local chapters across the country. Once homeless himself, Sprowal started a shelter in his home city that's run by the people who live in it.
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.
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Louise Stanley of Brooklyn NY moved homeless people into abandoned city-owned apartment buildings, many of them padlocked because property taxes had not been paid, some of them infested with drug dealers. When people who needed homes moved in, the city arrested them—and Stanley—for trespassing. She went to bat for the people she called “urban homesteaders” and won the city’s blessing plus almost $3 million for repairs to the houses.
Home when commended: North America, US, New York Home now: North America, US, New York Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Jerold Starr of Pittsburgh PA, a sociology professor, believed that young people should study the Vietnam war, even though his fellow academics disagreed. On his own time and money, he developed a curriculum that is now being used in high schools and colleges.
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.
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Ethel Clark Starrett of Forest Manor IN was honored as a Giraffe when she was 99, for a lifetime of sticking her neck out. She began by running a program for young women and girls in Beirut, then ran trailblazing YWCAs in Nebraska, Argentina and Chicago. In her retirement years, she founded a community group that promotes racial unity.
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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Daphne and John Stegmaier of Kensington MD spend 70 hours a week counseling families of schizophrenics, and planning a new low-cost treatment community. The Stegmaiers, in their seventies, work far into the night as freelance translators to pay the costs of their crusade.
Home when commended: North America, US, Maryland Home now: North America, US, Maryland Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Daphne and John Stegmaier of Kensington MD spend 70 hours a week counseling families of schizophrenics, and planning a new low-cost treatment community. The Stegmaiers, in their seventies, work far into the night as freelance translators to pay the costs of their crusade.
Home when commended: North America, US, Maryland Home now: North America, US, Maryland Gender: C (couple) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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John and Daphne Stegmaier of Kensington MD spend 70 hours a week counseling families of schizophrenics, and planning a new low-cost treatment community. The Stegmaiers, in their seventies, work far into the night as freelance translators to pay the costs of their crusade.
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.
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