Giraffe Heroes Database
Letter "W"
Entries beginning with "W"
San Francisco Bike messenger Howard Williams came up with a way that people who had lost legs in the Soviet-Afghan war could use bikes to get around. He perfected his invention and created Bicycles for Afghan Amputees Rehabilitation to deliver the invention and many other support services, all of it coming out of Williams’ earnings as a messenger and his fundraising for the cause.
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 a time of great fear and misunderstanding about AIDS, Joyce and Rob Williams of Middleburg FL, a conservative, white, middle-aged, middle-class couple, took in a two-year old African-American boy with AIDS as a foster child. Immediately faced with the outrage and rejection of friends, family and church members, they led their community to acceptance and understanding.
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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In a time of great fear and misunderstanding about AIDS, Joyce and Rob Williams of Middleburg FL, a conservative, white, middle-aged, middle-class couple, took in a two-year old African-American boy with AIDS as a foster child. Immediately faced with the outrage and rejection of friends, family and church members, they led their community to acceptance and understanding.
Home when commended: North America, US, Florida Home now: North America, US, Florida Gender: C (couple) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Mike Williams of Akiak AK, a recovering alcoholic, ran the Iditarod as a "Race for Sobriety/Race for Our Future," despite the insistence of fellow Yu’piks that the issue not be raised publicly. Williams got kids all over the state to hold bake sales to raise his entry fee. In the race, he carried with him a sobriety pledge signed by one Native American for each of the Iditarod’s 1,049 miles.
Home when commended: North America, US, Alaska Home now: North America, US, Alaska Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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In a time of great fear and misunderstanding about AIDS, Joyce and Rob Williams of Middleburg FL, a conservative, white, middle-aged, middle-class couple, took in a two-year old African-American boy with AIDS as a foster child. Immediately faced with the outrage and rejection of friends, family and church members, they led their community to acceptance and understanding.
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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Ellen and Phil Willis-Conger of Berkely CA, members of the Sanctuary Movement, risked arrest and imprisonment by defying authorities to shelter Central American political refugees.
Home when commended: North America, US, California Home now: North America, US, California Gender: C (couple) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Willis-Conger, Ellen and Philip Ellen and Philip Willis-Conger of Berkely CA, members of the Sanctuary Movement, risked arrest and imprisonment by sheltering Central American political refugees. They are representative of hundreds of Sanctuary members, all of them acting out of conscience and accepting the consequences of breaking a law they believe is unjust.
Home when commended: North America, US, California Home now: North America, US, California Gender: C (couple) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Phil and Ellen Willis-Conger of Berkely CA, members of the Sanctuary Movement, risked arrest and imprisonment by defying authorities to shelter Central American political refugees.
Home when commended: North America, US, California Home now: North America, US, California Gender: C (couple) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Brian Willson of San Francisco CA is a Viet Nam vet who has dedicated his life to stopping wars. His non-violent peace work has included fasts and demonstrations, even sitting on train tracks in an effort to stop a munitions shipment. When the engineer did not stop, despite seeing Willson, the peace activist lost both his legs. He continues working for peace.
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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Bill Wilson is determined to help kids in one of New York’s most dangerous neighborhoods despite having his building robbed and set on fire, and his buses vandalized. Undeterred--even by being assaulted--Wilson and his fellow staffers keep coming. And kids are showing up, by the thousands, for tutoring in basic academic skills and basic values.
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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Diane Wilson, a fourth generation shrimper in Seadrift TX, is determined to prevent the polluting of the area’s water and air by a massive chemical processing complex proposed by Formosa Plastics. Because her neighbors hope for jobs in the new plants and the corporation stands to make a great deal of money, Wilson has braved both threats and attacks--her boat was burned, her dog killed, and her own life threatened.
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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Betsy Wilson of Concord MA lost part of her jaw to cancer and withdrew from life, unable to face the world. Inspired by the founder of "Let's Face It," an English support group for the facially disfigured, Wilson roared back into life as the founder of an American branch of the organization. She now gives speeches, interviews and workshops that help others cope with disfigurement.
Home when commended: North America, US, Massachusetts Home now: North America, US, Washington Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Larry Wilson of Middlesboro KY and his neighbor Hotense Quillen faced down years of verbal and physical threats to clean up a creek that had been killed by a tannery and a sewage plant. Thanks to their courage and persistance, the creek revived to support healthy fish and all the farm animals who drank from it.
Home when commended: North America, US, Kentucky Home now: North America, US, Kentucky Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Becky Winker 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 Amanda Pritchard)
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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Donald Winston of Houston TX, a general surgeon, was harassed, threatened and lost his medical practice for blowing the whistle on physician/hospital practices that discriminate against uninsured patients and inflate medical costs for everyone else.
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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Phyllis Witcher of Chadds Ford PA is one of the "new poor," the thousands upon thousands of spouses who are impoverished by no-fault divorces. Despite legal costs beyond her means, damage to her health, and death threats, Witcher has taken these laws to the US Supreme Court, working for a ruling that will better protect all spouses and children and stabilize American society.
Home when commended: North America, US, Pennsylvania Home now: North America, US, Pennsylvania Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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