Neha Gupta

In 2005, Neha Gupta created a Empower Orphans. This program provides direct assistance around the worlds. In 2009, the United Nations estimated that there was 145 million orphans and/or abandoned children in the world. 

Neha Gupta was astonished by this. She and her family would go to visit her grandparents every year in India, and while there, would volunteer at the orphanage. Neha decided she wanted to do more. when she was only nine years old, she created Empower Orphans so that the money would go directly to helping the orphans. 

She has focused her efforts oBal Kunj orphanage and Shree Geeta Public School for underprivileged kids. 

Empower Orphans has funded 5 libraries (15,500 books) in the area, 3 computer labs with 12 computers, a sewing center with 30 sewing machines, 25 van loads of home furnishings to improve conditions, a 4 day eye and dental clinic for 360 children, the complete education of over 50 children, and provided food, clothes, and blankets for over 1,000 children.

This is all began because of the empathy of a nine year old girl for the orphans she saw while volunteering.

To find out ways you can help visit Empower Orphans.

Temple Grandin

"Nature is cruel, but we don't have to be."

Temple Grandin

Photo Courtesy of: BubblesMakeHimSmile

In 1950, Temple Grandin was diagnosed with Autism after her parents originally thought she had been brain damaged. Her mother hired a nanny for her and her sister to try to help Temple. It worked. Temple began talking at age 4, which is usually uncommon for children with autism. Temple didn't stop there, she went on through school and onto college, receiving a bachelors degree in psychology and a masters in animal science.

She does not let her illness define her. She now spends her time promoting animal welfare and autism awareness. 

Temple Grandin has been in many media projects including ABC's Primetime Live, the Today Show, Larry King Live, Times Magazine, People, Discover, New York Times, and Forbes to name a few. 

She also had a biography made on her by HBO which was nominated for 15 Emmys. 

In 2010, she was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. 

She herself has published several books on living with Autism. 

Temple Grandin has achieved so much in her life, but it is the fact of how she encourages parents with kids who have Autism through her work and her writing. It gives them hope for a better life for their kids. 

Diane Latiker

Diane Latiker

Living in a large urban population for the majority of here life, Diane Latiker was no stranger to the problems faced by urban youth. She had dropped out of high school herself and had seven children all before the age of 25. It wasn't until she was 36 that she decided to turn her life around. Getting her GED and remarrying as well as having another daughter.

 It was when her youngest daughter became a teen that she began to worry about how her daughter would grow up with so many gangs in Roseland, a dangerous Chicago neighborhood.. She encouraged her daughter in other activities to hopefully help her avoid that lifestyle, and then Diane's mother encouraged her to try helping others. 

When Diane began she was somewhat nervous, then she realized that most of the kids in her neighborhood did not dream of being part of a gang, they had other dreams and aspirations to do something better with their life. 

That's when Diane Latiker decided to keep her house open to those kids 24/7 in order to provide a safe place where they could come and just be themselves. She names her nonprofit program Kids Off the Block.

Many credit Latiker for changing their lives around. Giving them a place to do their homework and someone who would talk to them and take them seriously. 

Maurece Gilchrist is one of those kids who had his life changed by Diane Latiker. Maurece had been part of a gang and only came to Latiker's house because his friend was going there after school one day. Now he is out of gang life and planning on playing football at college. 

Her program has expanded ever since. In 2008, donors helped her buy the house next door since her house could no longer fit anymore people. She has also made a stone garden in memory of all the youth in her area who have lost their lives to violence just in the time since 2007. There were over 220 stones in the memorial. 

Diane Latiker is having a positive influence on her community. Giving her neighborhood hope for something beyond gang life. She also has given hope to other neighborhoods like Roseland in different cities across the nation where her nonprofit has gone and spoke.

Stan Brock

Remote Area Medical 

The first thing that comes to mind when you think of medicine is probably not a cowboy. But that is what Stan Brock was before he created Remote Area Medical. After being kicked in the head by a horse in the middle of a rain forest in Brazil, he was far from any medical assistance. 

It is not only in Brazil, but in many parts of the world that it is hard to receive medical assistance. Luckily, Stan Brock was able to heal on his own, but others who have more serious injuries sometimes can not. That was when Stan Brock decided he wanted to do something.

His thought was "Hey, lets bring these doctors a little closer than 26 days on foot."

Stan decided it would be a good idea to create a program that would be able to pick up sick people in an airplane and bring them to care. In 1985 he put his own flying skills to test and started his Remote Area Medical. His program also began as a nonprofit where volunteers would be dropped off in locations to provide medical assistance. It began focusing on locations over seas but quickly, rural United States locations were asking for assistance as well. Today his program has a state of the art air plane with 20 dentist chairs. The kind of care they are able to supply depends on what doctors are volunteering at the time. 

Stan Brock pushes all praise toward his volunteers and away from his self. 

He tries his hardest to provide care to everyone he can. 

Rachel Beckwith

A Birthday Wish

Photo Courtesty of: The Examiner 

What did you wish for on your ninth birthday? I think I wanted a new Barbie or some clothes. 

Rachel Beckwith wanted water, not for herself but to donate. Rachel had the idea of instead of getting gifts for her birthday, she wanted to have her loved ones donate to give clean water to those who needed it

Her goal was to raise $300 to donate to those in African villages. 

A month after her 9th birthday, Rachel Beckwith was killed in a car accident. 

The horrific accident brought public attention to this young girls cause and allowed her campaign to raise way more than she could have expected, $1.25 million. 

Today, Rachel's mother continues to run campaigns in Rachel's honor. 

To donate you can visit her site charity:water.

Amy Stokes

"... we expand their village to include the entire world. "

~Amy Stokes

In 2003, Amy Stokes adopted a young boy from South Africa. Although that is an admirable thing in itself, this is not why I consider her someone extraordinary. Adopting her son encouraged Amy Stokes to launch her idea, Infinite Family. 

Most people know that HIV/AIDS is very devastating in South Africa today. Most people do not realize the affect this disease has on the orphans. 

Amy Stokes created this program to help these children grow up with an adult mentor there to support them. They do this via a video mentoring program that Amy and her colleagues set up.
This program allows pre-teens and teens to have an adult figure in their life from different places around the world. 

This program officially started in 2006 and has been growing since. Infinite Family allows personal interaction between these children and an adult figure to talk of things like homework, the future (careers), and even just the troubles of growing up. 

I do not know how I could live without my parents, both of whom I talk to at least 5 times a week.

Amy Stokes created this amazing program in order to help these young people develop into educated and well rounded adults, and I admire her for going above and beyond and helping others help the children as well.

I would encourage you to visit her site for Infinite Family and learn more about this program and how you can get involved.

9/11 Heroes

"No man is worth his salt who is not at all times ready to risk his well being, to risk his body, to risk his life in a great cause."
~Theodore Roosevelt

I don't think anyone will ever be able to forget 9/11. I was pretty young at the time, but I, like most people of my generation, remember exactly what I was doing when I found out about the horrific events. I remember getting off the bust at my best friend Samantha's house and my mom being there and looking sad. I remember her making me go home with her and her explaining the tragedy to me. 

I couldn't understand why or how someone could do something so heartless and cruel to other human beings. I still can't understand it.
I can not imagine anything close to what the families of people who were in the building went through, or the people trapped in the building themselves. 

I will not go without mentioning the heroic acts of bravery put on by New York's finest, their police officers, as well as their firefighters, first responders, and even the rescue animals present. A great deal of these amazing people (and animals) died while trying to save the lives of others. 

Even the people within the building who knew they themselves would die but tried to get others to safety

Father Mychal Judge, a catholic priest in the area rushed to the building after the first plane hit to try to say a few final words to the dying, unfortunately he himself ended up dying too. 

2,600 people lost their lives that day, but many were saved due to the kindness of strangers.

Usman Farman was saved by a man he referred to as a Hasidic Jewish man after he fell down. 

Two woman lead a blind newspaper vendor to safety. 

Errol Anderson, a firefighter, helped create a human chain to lead people through absolute blindness caused by the cloud of dust. He brought them to the Brooklyn bridge where it was considered safe before he returned to the site. 

Many more people would have perished in the horrific events of that September day if it was not for the courage and kindness of complete strangers. 

Thad day will forever be ingrained into the minds of many Americans, but I hope it is not only remembered as a day of tragedy, but also a day that united the country. 

For More Information:

http://www.alternet.org/story/142566/how_9_11_should_be_remembered%3A_the_extraordinary_achievements_of_ordinary_people/?page=entire

Patrice Mallet

"All my life I wanted to do something good for my country, for the kids" 

~Patrice Mallet

In 2006, Patrice Mallet was diagnosed with a form of bone cancer. He was told that he would only survive if a stem cell transplant took place.

In 2007, after the surgery took place and his cancer was in remission, Patrice Mallet decided he wanted to help the children in his home country of Haiti which had been a dream of his. 

Mallet sold his company and formed Foundation Notre-Dame du Perpetuel Secours (FONDAPS). 

Mallet's goal is to teach children growing up in slums important life skills by using soccer. His first target area in Haiti was Port-au-Prince, which contains the countries most dangerous slums. 

At first, this program faced some hardship, but after time the area accepted Patrice and large amounts of children came to participate in FONDAPS. 

Patrice pays for tournament fees, equipment, uniforms, and transportation all out of his own pocket so that this program is free to all that want to join. 

He hopes to enstill a sense of hope in these kids in order to help them realize they do not need to join a gang or steal to get things in life. 

When the earthquake hit Haiti, it caused a large drop in the number of kids able to participate in the program, but still today many join Patrice Mallet to practice five days a week and then play a game on the weekend. 

Patrice's cancer returned in 2009, but he has been treating it with different medications and continuing FONDAPS. 

"I realize how important life is, every moment, I am not ready to die yet. I have many, many things to do."

~Patrice Mallet

Mark Kobanna

Soccer Heals Refugees

It is tough being the new kid in school. Living in one town my whole life, going off to college was the first time I had to experience this, so I can not imagine how difficult it had to be for Mark Kobanna and many other like him who come to the United States from war stricken countries or the isolation they felt due to the language and cultural differences. 

When Mark worked as a refugee case manager for a non profit organization. San Diego, where Mark works and lives, is the countries largest refugee resettlement locations. Although he went through the same situation, seeing others go through the challenges of living in a new country as a refugee and having to rely on others helped Mark create Youth and Leaders Living Actively (YALLA). 

YALLA also is Arabic for "Let's go!" This program started in 2009 and provides free tutoring programs and soccer training to 200 girls and boys in San Diego, California. 

Mark's goal was to help those who come over and are years behind both catch up and surpassing the language barriers to understand what they are learning through mandatory twice a week tutoring. 

Mark Kobanna's program also creates a support group for these kids. When he came over he was ostracized for being different and poor. YALLA allows these kids somewhere they feel safe and can learn. This program has helped many kids and I hope it continues to do so for a long time! 

For More Information: CNN Real Heroes

Randy Pausch

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play our hand" 

~Randy Pausch 

Everyone's heard the question before "If you knew how long you had left to live, what would you do with that time?" Many will think of things like sky diving, swimming with sharks, traveling, or just doing things we never had the courage to do before. 

Randy Pausch chose to inspire. 

Randy Pausch was a professor of computer science and human-computer interaction at Carnegie Mellon University. Given three to six months to live after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Randy Pausch chose to embrace the life he was living and the family he loved. 

On September 18th of 2007 Mr. Pausch gave a speech called "The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." 

This speech instantly became a internet sensation and encouraged millions of people. It also led to him writing a book and multiple media appearances including The Oprah Show. 

His lecture and his book discuss his many attempts at achieving his childhood dreams through out life.
Both contain an optimistic outlook on life and his disease. 

Randy Pausch, in my mind, is one of the most inspirational people and I really wish I had had a chance to meet him myself. He is a personal hero of mine and is without a doubt an inspiration. 

"The key question to keep asking is, 'Are you spending your time on the right things?' Because this time is all you have"  ~Randy Pausch

Jessica Cox

"This is how I've been my whole life, I don't know any different. I just live my life through my feet."
~Jessica Cox

Photo Courtesy of: The XO Directory

Jessica Cox is another unique individual who has over came many obstacles. Born without her arms due to a rare and undetected birth defect, Jessica has had to do things differently her entire life. But this did not stop her from living a very close to normal life, except for the fact that she uses her feet for almost everything one would normally use their hands for. She can write wit her feet, drive a car, and most recently, flew a plane with her feet. 

Jessica has learned how to play piano with her feet, text, earned a black belt in Tao Kwan-Do, and was the first certified pilot without any arms! 

Sergey Brin & Larry Page

"We have a mantra: don't be evil, which is to do the best thing we   know how for our users and our customers, for everyone. So, I think if were known for that, it would be a wonderful thing.

~Larry Page 

I feel a little odd talking so candidly about these two on part of their own site, but there is no way to not mention how the thought child of these two has changed the world today. 

After graduating from Stanford in 1995, Sergey Brin and Larry Page created the idea for a new, and improved, public search engine. "Basically, our goal is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful," Larry Page says. Page and Brin certainly did that, and more. 

Today, Google is the most widely used search engine but it has expanded also into a great tool for daily life. 

I don't know about you reading this blog, but I use Google on a daily basis for things like homework, shopping, travel plans, directions,to keep updated with the news, and stay in contact with friends.  

I truly cannot imagine the world without Google. It has been such a common word, and even a verb. It is quite common to hear someone say to "Google" something. I don't know if Page and Brin knew how widely their innovation would effect people today, but their genius has turned an already great search engine into so much more today. 

"Obviously everyone wants to be successful, but I want to be looked back on as being very innovative, very trusted and ethical and ultimately making a big difference in the world"

~Sergey Brin

For more information: USA Today

April Capone Almon

April Capone Almon

Photo Courtesy of: Hip Hop Wired 

On the topic of awesome mayors, the mayor of East Haven, Connecticut went way beyond her political duties in 2010. April Capone Almon donated a kidney to one of her constituents.

While running for re-election, Ms. Almon was on facebook.com one day when she saw one of her constituents was in need of a kidney. 

Carlos Sanchez updated his facebook status after finding out his kidneys were failing due to his diabetes. None of his family or friends were matches. He never expected his mayor to be the one to volunteer. At first thought the mayor was joking when she messaged him saying she would get tested, but she insisted she was very serious.

April Capone Almon said "I really felt from the very beginning that I was going to be a match and a donor. I don't know why, but I just knew it." And indeed she was right, she got tested and was a match! To make the situation even better, the mayor's insurance covered both her surgery, and Mr. Sanchez's. 

Both surgeries went with out a problem and each made a full recovery!
It is without a doubt that Mayor April Capone Almon truly strives to make a difference in her community.

For more information visit Hip Hop Wired

Mayor Cory Booker

Cory Booker

"When Chuck Norris has nightmares, Cory Booker turns on the light & sits with him until he falls asleep!"

Photo Courtesy of: Red, Black, and Blue

Cory Booker is the mayor of the city of Newark in New Jersey, but recently he has received the new title of "super-mayor." The story of his heroism has blown up social media, especially twitter with #corybookerstories. 

Mayor Booker was on his way home when he noticed flames and smoke coming to the building next door. Cory and three members of his security team went into the house and tried to get everyone out, unfortunately someone was upstairs. Mayor Booker went back into the house, although a police officer voiced his objections, and carried the woman out of the burning building. 

Cory suffered from both smoke inhalation and second degree burns on his hand. 

Cory Booker shies away from the title of hero, although if you look at his history, it is obvious that he is one. Him running into the burning building was not his first act of heroism, eight years ago Cory had ran toward a gun shot while on a walk one night when he came across 19 year old Wazn Miller. Booker put pressure on his wound and held the teenager until he died. 

Cory Booker himself went out to help the citizens of his town after a snow storm. He went outside and shoveled sidewalks, buying diapers and necessities and delivering them to families who could not get to the stores. 

Mayor Cory Booker is not only a good mayor, but a person to be admired for his courage and eagerness to help those in need.

For more information: Washington Post 

Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem

"A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle."

~Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem is a well known and brilliant activist, writer, and editor. While she herself had once been a Playboy bunny, Gloria has always put herself at the forefront of almost all female rights debates. Gloria founded the Women's Action Alliance which helped promote equal rights and assist other women on projects sharing similar goals to further the rights of women. This program was later responsible for the opening of battered women shelters. In 1970, when the Senate was debating the Equal Right's amendment, Gloria was a featured speaker.
 Gloria helped found New York Times Magazine where she wrote on politics and other featured issues. She also was co-founded the magazine Ms.She has wrote many different books over time on varying topics from Marilyn Monroe to U.S. women's history.
She has also made documentaries on pressing issues such as child abuse and the death penalty while she has had shows about her life on TV as well.
Gloria is one woman who has NEVER been afraid to speak her mind. She voiced her opinions on reproductive freedom for females and criticized pornography. 
 She did not limit herself to protesting for women's rights in the 1960's and1970's, but later went on to advocate for minority rights along side Corretta Scott King and Cesar Chavez. She urged for gay rights after Vietnam,  pressed for the end of "cruelty, fraud, and waste" in animal testing, and spoke out against genital mutilation and female trafficking in other countries.
Gloria Steinem, although controversial in some of her beliefs, never let that stop her from saying what she thought and the need for change. 


"The truth will set you free, but it will first piss you off" 
~Gloria Steinem

Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking

"My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus."

~Stephen Hawking

I don't know if being a genius should necessarily make one a hero, but in my eyes, Stephen Hawking is a hero and so much more. Although he refers to those who brag about their IQ to be "losers", Hawking scored in the 200's. Having studied at both Oxford and Cambridge, he later went on to share his genius with others by working on theories and proofs.

 In 1963 he was told he would only live two more years after he was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Instead of dying, Hawking assisted in creating theories in gravitational relativity which were based off mathematical work done by Albert Einstein. Stephen Hawking's brilliance is often compared to that of Einstein.

Hawking also has described the three qualities of a black hole (mass, angular momentum, and electrical charge) and how the Big Bang could have been followed by black holes. He created a model to show the universe with now space-time boundary, and many other scientific theories.
Hawkings has written multiple books describing his work such as "The Grand Decision" and "A Brief History of Time." He has been honored a large amount of internationally recognized awards since the 1970's including recieving the Presidential Medal of Freedom which has been awarded to such people as Mother Theresa and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

I think Stephen Hawking's hard work and focus on intellect is something to be admired, even more so his enjoyment of sharing that information as a professor. 

Malya Villard-Appolon

Malya Villard-Appolon

In 2010, after earthquakes struck Haiti, Alvana was left homeless like many others. During this time Alvana was gan rapped on the street. She did not know where to turn to until a friend told her about the KOFAVIV clinic. The KOFAVIV clinic is rub by the Commission of Women, Victims for Victims. They provided the pregnant Alvana with food, water, housing, and even prenatal cared. 

It was stories like Alvana's that caused Malya Villard-Appolon to cofound KOFAVIV in 2004 in order to help women in this country and give them a voice against rape. This cause was very personal to Malya, who was a victim of rape on two different occasions, her husband was killed trying to protect her, and her daughter was later raped in a displacement camp when only 14 years old. 

Malya encourages other rape victims to come forward and talk about their rapes. KOFAVIV provides assistance to rape victims as well as protection, psychological counseling, and legal aid. KOFAVIV says it is extremely common that rapes go unreported in Haiti. It became a lot worse after the earthquake left many people homeless and more vulnerable to violent attacks.

To learn more visit: CNN Real Hero Malya Villard-Appolon

Taryn Davis

Taryn Davis

Taryn Davis made it through one of the most difficult circumstances I could ever imagine. Finding out her husband, Corporal Michael Davis was killed while serving in Iraq.

She did not immediately know what to do or where she should turn. She even googled her new title of "widow" in hopes of finding some help at getting through her grief, only to be given the response "did you mean window?" Once she realize that most people did not like talking about their new title, she decided to try to connect with young women like herself who had lost a husband or fiancé and make a documentary of her encounters with the other widows she met.

Taryn created The American Widow Project, helping widows support other widows of soldiers. So far this project has helped over 700 widows from the war offering things like peer-to-peer retreats and counseling. She also uses different social networks that the wives had gotten used to using to connect to their husbands to share memories with one another and connect to other widows across the nation.

"My fellow military widows have shown me that we are far more than the sum of our tragedy"
~Taryn Davis 

Nick Vujicic

"If you can't get a miracle, become one"

~Nick Vujicic "Life Without Limits"

Nick Vujicic is an Australian man with the most beautiful outlook on life. Nick was born to two loving parents in 1982, but unlike most people, he was born without arms or legs due to a rare disease known as tetra-amelia.

Nick does not let his disability define him, instead he uses it to add humor to his inspirational speeches.

Nick lives by one simple principle "never give up!" I could not imagine the difficulties this man must have faced growing up and going to school. He smiles more than anyone I have ever personally met and tries to encourage others to do the same.

Nick lives his life to the fullest and does not let his lack of limbs stop him! He attempts to reach as many people as possible and encourages them to embrace life and never feel as though they are not good enough.

Although at one time he did not believe he would ever be a husband, in February he married his gorgeous wife, Kanae Miyahara.