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Story highlights
- CNN and CNNgo honor everyday people changing the world.
- "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" includes celebrities, CNN's Top 10 Heroes and the Hero of the Year
- Show includes singer Andra Day, Neil Patrick Harris, Taylor Schilling, Common, Sharon Stone, Chris Noth and Zachary Quinto
New York (CNN)Join CNN for a star-studded celebration honoring people who've made a difference by daring to help others. Will their stories inspire you?
"CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" features CNN's Hero of the Year, Maggie Doyne, sharing her story and delivering an emotional and touching acceptance speech.
CNN Heroes
For more about CNN Heroes, go to CNNHeroes.com
Hear details about how this former babysitter from New Jersey fell in love with a country halfway around the world and used her babysitting savings to start a home and school for women and children.
The stories of nine other Heroes are shared as well. Every tale underscores the idea that everyday people can change the world.
With presentations and performances by some of entertainment's brightest stars, each Hero receives $10,000. The Hero of the Year's charity gets an additional $100,000. Held November 17 at Manhattan's iconic American Museum of Natural History, the event is hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper.
Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Neil Patrick Harris was among the presenters. As part of their award package, each Top 10 CNN Hero will also receive organizational training through the Annenberg Foundation, a global supporter of nonprofit organizations.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Singer and actress Victoria Justice presented an award to Maggie Doyne, who was later named CNN Hero of the Year.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Actor Zachary Quinto, pictured, presented an award to fellow Pittsburgh native and CNN Hero Jim Withers.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Kathy Griffin was among the show presenters.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Actor Chris Noth was among the ceremony's presenters. During the ceremony, celebrity presenters joined each Top 10 Hero on stage as they shared the personal stories about what inspired them to give back to society.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
"Orange is the New Black" star Taylor Schilling was among the presenters. Supporters of the Top 10 CNN Heroes may make direct charitable donations to their designated nonprofits by using Amazon Payments through December 31.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Canadian actor Jacob Tremblay introduced another of the CNN "Young Wonders."
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Singer Andra Day, left, and actress Sharon Stone meet on the red carpet. Day performed her inspiring anthem "Rise Up" during the show. Since 2007, CNN's Peabody Award-winning, Emmy-nominated franchise has profiled more than 250 Heroes and received more than 50,000 nominations from more than 100 countries.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Video blogger Bethany Mota introduced one of the three "Young Wonders" honored at the event.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Stand-up comic W. Kamau Bell performed at the event. He is the host of the upcoming CNN series "United Shades of America."
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Anderson Cooper hosted "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" at New York's American Museum of Natural History on Tuesday, November 17. Click through the gallery to see CNN Heroes, guests and celebrities who attended the event.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Monique Pool is among the Top 10 CNN Heroes. Pool has dedicated herself to helping wild animals in the South American country of Suriname. Pool has rescued, rehabilitated and released hundreds of sloths and other mammals back to the rainforest.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
CNN anchor Ashleigh Banfield attends the "All-Star Tribute," which honored this year's Top 10 CNN Heroes.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Kim Carter is a Top 10 CNN Hero. Her nonprofit, Time For Change, provides housing, counseling and job training, as well as services to help women reunite with their children.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Sunny Hostin is a CNN legal analyst
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Rochelle Ripley, a Top 10 CNN Hero, helps her Native American people. Through her nonprofit, hawkwing, she has delivered an estimated $9 million in services and goods to the Lakota people.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
CNN anchor Don Lemon was in attendance.
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide
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Photos: "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" 2015 red carpet
Maggie Doyne, who cares for and educates hundreds of children in Nepal, was named the 2015 CNN Hero of the Year.
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Celebrity presenters include Neil Patrick Harris, Taylor Schilling, Common, Kelly Ripa, Kathy Griffin, Sharon Stone, Chris Noth and Zachary Quinto.
R&B and jazz singer Andra Day performs her powerful song, "Rise Up." Also, singer and actress Victoria Justice, actor Jacob Tremblay of "Room" and YouTube vlogger Bethany Mota recognize three Young Wonders -- young adults honored by CNN.
Below, in random order, find out what drives each Top 10 Hero and what sets them apart.
Undercover doctor for the homeless
For more than 20 years, Dr. Jim Withers has taken his medical practice to the streets of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, offering free, quality health care to the homeless.
Photos: Bringing 'street medicine' to the homeless
For 23 years, Dr. Jim Withers has been doing street rounds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bringing medical care to the homeless.
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Photos: Bringing 'street medicine' to the homeless
When he started in 1992, he dressed like a homeless person in order to connect with the men and women who had been excluded from his care. "I was actually really shocked how ill people were on the street. It was like going to a third-world country," Withers said.
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Photos: Bringing 'street medicine' to the homeless
Withers' one-man mission has since expanded to a citywide program called Operation Safety Net that includes a mobile van, drop-in centers and a primary health clinic, all where the homeless can access medical care. The group also does home visits to people who have transitioned off the streets.
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Photos: Bringing 'street medicine' to the homeless
Withers and his group have reached more than 10,000 individuals and helped more than 1,200 of them transition into housing. Withers met Lois -- pictured here, receiving a home visit -- when she was living on the streets.
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Photos: Bringing 'street medicine' to the homeless
Medical students come from all over the country to work with Withers and Operation Safety Net. "When (students) can see a street person succeed and not just get locked in that hopeless category, their vision changes. The street classroom really ignites, or reignites, what their passion is. ... And they carry that forward."
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Photos: Bringing 'street medicine' to the homeless
Withers is also fostering a global "street medicine" movement through his nonprofit, the Street Medicine Institute, which supports communities in starting programs of their own. "In the way I'd like to see things, every person who is still on the streets will have medical care that comes directly to them and says, 'You matter.' "
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Photos: Bringing 'street medicine' to the homeless
Withers: "It's something that we should take pride in when we can actually treat people the way we would want to be treated."
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To win their trust, Withers used to walk the streets dressed like a homeless person — rubbing dirt in his hair and muddying up his clothes. He would search for those who needed medical attention who might be too suspicious of him otherwise. It was important for Withers to connect with people who wouldn't seek him out. Instead, he reached out to them.
"I was actually really shocked how ill people were on the street," Withers said. "Young, old, people with mental illness, runaway kids, women (who) fled domestic violence, veterans. And they all have their own story."
Withers' one-man mission became a citywide program called Operation Safety Net. Since 1992, the group has reached more than 10,000 individuals and helped more than 1,200 of them transition into housing.
He also started Street Medicine Institute, a nonprofit that helps communities worldwide establish programs of their own.
CNN Top Ten Hero Dr. Jim Withers 01:51
'The Sloth Lady'
Monique Pool has dedicated herself to helping wild animals in the South American country of Suriname. Pool has rescued, rehabilitated and released hundreds of sloths and other mammals back to the rainforest.
Photos: Meet the 'Sloth Lady' of Suriname
CNN Hero Monique Pool has been helping to rescue animals -- mostly sloths -- in her native Suriname since 2005. Click through the gallery to see more images of Pool and these fascinating animals.
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Photos: Meet the 'Sloth Lady' of Suriname
Pool has been recognized for her particular interest in three-toed and two-toed sloths. "I live in the middle of the city, so we are working to build a professional rehabilitation center in the forest, so we can give the animals an opportunity to practice their 'sloth skills' before they are released," she said.
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Photos: Meet the 'Sloth Lady' of Suriname
Pool's nonprofit, Green Heritage Fund Suriname, started because of a lost pet. While looking for her lost dog, she called the Animal Protection Society and learned that a baby sloth had been orphaned. Pool offered to take it in. "I didn't know anything about sloths, but I learned a lot," said Pool. She sought advice from international experts on how to care for the animals. "Now, when sloths are injured or in trouble, all the telephone calls come to us."
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Photos: Meet the 'Sloth Lady' of Suriname
Pool has been recognized for her particular interest in three-toed and two-toed sloths.
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Photos: Meet the 'Sloth Lady' of Suriname
"My biggest rescue ever was in 2012 when we heard about this plot of land that was going to be cleared," Pool said. The group rescued 200 animals, including around 160 sloths. They jokingly called it "Slothageddon -- sloth armageddon." "During that time, it was really a bit weird to live here because there were sloths everywhere: in my living room, in cages, in my garage. Dozens of volunteers were helping."
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Photos: Meet the 'Sloth Lady' of Suriname
Pool also takes in anteaters, armadillos and porcupines. To date, she and her volunteers have rescued, rehabilitated and released more than 600 animals back to the rainforest.
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Photos: Meet the 'Sloth Lady' of Suriname
"When I release a sloth, I feel really happy because the animal is where he belongs. That's the ultimate goal of my work," Pool said. "Wild animals belong in the wild."
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It all started in 2005, when Pool's dog went missing. During her search, she called the Animal Protection Society and learned that a baby sloth had been orphaned. Pool offered to take it in.
"I didn't know anything about sloths, but I learned a lot," said Pool, who sought advice from international experts on how to care for the animals.
Photos: Sloth steals the spotlight at CNN Heroes
Anderson Cooper, host of 'CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,' meets Snooki before the big show.
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Photos: Sloth steals the spotlight at CNN Heroes
Anderson learns that sloths like it when you blow gently on their face. This is why we have rehearsals.
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Photos: Sloth steals the spotlight at CNN Heroes
At rehearsal, everyone wanted a photo. But Snooki preferred getting ready for her close-up.
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Photos: Sloth steals the spotlight at CNN Heroes
How'd she do?
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Photos: Sloth steals the spotlight at CNN Heroes
Actually, under the care of her handler from the LEO Zoological Conservation Center, Snooki seemed up for almost anything,
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Photos: Sloth steals the spotlight at CNN Heroes
Of course, before her onstage appearance, Snooki had to make a pit stop in the makeup chair. Okay, not really.
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Photos: Sloth steals the spotlight at CNN Heroes
Host Anderson Cooper walked on stage carrying Snooki. "This is basically a dream come true," he told the audience.
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Photos: Sloth steals the spotlight at CNN Heroes
For the rest of the show, Snooki hung out backstage on her own red carpet. Literally.
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Photos: Sloth steals the spotlight at CNN Heroes
That's where Sharon Stone couldn't resist getting to know Snooki a little better.
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Photos: Sloth steals the spotlight at CNN Heroes
How is this for "squad goals?" Snooki and her trainer, Marcella Leone, Founder and Director of the LEO Zoological Conservation Center, with, from left, Kathy Griffin, Kelly Ripa and Victoria Justice.
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Photos: Sloth steals the spotlight at CNN Heroes
Grammy nominee Andra Day wowed the audience with her performance of 'Rise Up.' She was wowed while hanging out with Snooki, too.
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Photos: Sloth steals the spotlight at CNN Heroes
Neil Patrick Harris presented Top 10 CNN Hero Monique Pool with her award for her work rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing sloths in Suriname. He welcomed her to the stage as "the person who proves sloth is a virtue."
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Photos: Sloth steals the spotlight at CNN Heroes
After the show, Snooki returned home to the LEO Zoological Conservation Center to rejoin her fellow sloths, J-Woww and the Situation.
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Today, Pool's nonprofit, Green Heritage Fund Suriname, helps protect sloths and implement other conservation efforts in the country. Her home serves as a temporary sanctuary for the mammals, and she is now a recognized local authority on them. Her work has earned her the nickname, "The Sloth Lady."
CNN Top Ten Hero Monique Pool 01:48
Growing fresh produce in a 'food desert'
In rural Conetoe, North Carolina, Richard Joyner has brought a bounty of food to what was a nutritional desert. Joyner, a local pastor, started a community garden after watching many of his parishioners die from preventable diseases. "Diabetes, high blood pressure -- when we first got started, we counted 30 funerals in one year," Joyner said.
Photos: Growing fresh produce in a 'food desert'
Top 10 CNN Hero Rev. Richard Joyner is leading his rural North Carolina community to better health by helping young people grow and distribute fresh food.
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Photos: Growing fresh produce in a 'food desert'
Conetoe, North Carolina -- population 300 -- lies an hour east of Raleigh. The town is surrounded by farmland, but the nearest grocery store is 10 miles away, making it one of the country's many "food deserts."
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Photos: Growing fresh produce in a 'food desert'
Now more than 80 young people help Joyner plan, plant and harvest nearly 50,000 pounds of fresh food a year. Much of this produce is given away to local residents.
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Photos: Growing fresh produce in a 'food desert'
His nonprofit, the Conetoe Family Life Center, manages more than 20 plots of land, including one 25-acre site.
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Photos: Growing fresh produce in a 'food desert'
The students also sell the food -- including their own brand of honey -- to businesses and restaurants, raising money for school supplies and scholarships.
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Photos: Growing fresh produce in a 'food desert'
The children also learn how to cook the food in a nutritious way, steering their families toward better choices at home. As a result, many people are now reaping the benefits of Joyner's efforts. Emergency room visits are down, and the community as a whole is healthier.
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Photos: Growing fresh produce in a 'food desert'
Joyner started his efforts after watching many of his parishioners die from preventable diseases. "Diabetes, high blood pressure -- when we first got started, we counted 30 funerals in one year," Joyner said. "I couldn't ignore it."
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Photos: Growing fresh produce in a 'food desert'
Joyner: "Growing food calls us to work together," he said. "By nourishing plants, you're nourishing community. It's one and the same."
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Photos: Growing fresh produce in a 'food desert'
When Joyner first started, he did not like farming. "I didn't have a good experience with the soil growing up. My family, we were sharecroppers. ... For me, working in the garden has been a healing place."
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Today, his nonprofit, the Conetoe Family Life Center, manages more than 20 plots of land, including one 25-acre site. More than 80 local young people help him plant and harvest nearly 50,000 pounds of fresh food a year. Local residents receive some food for free, and students also raise scholarship money by selling the food to restaurants and grocery stores.
The children also learn how to cook the food in a nutritious way, steering their families toward better choices at home. As a result, many people are now reaping the benefits of Joyner's ideas. Emergency room visits are down, and the community as a whole is healthier.
CNN Top Ten Hero Richard Joyner 01:49
Babysitting money transforms entire community
A New Jersey woman who saved her babysitting money has made a difference half a world away in Surkhet, Nepal. Ten years ago Maggie Doyne decided to backpack around the world before college. But during a stop in Nepal, her life took an unexpected turn. She met women and children who were struggling to survive the aftermath of a decade-long civil war.
Photos: Helping Nepali kids blossom
In 2006, New Jersey native Maggie Doyne purchased land in Surkhet, a district in western Nepal. She worked for two years with the local community to build the Kopila Valley Children's Home.
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Photos: Helping Nepali kids blossom
Doyne witnessed the effects of Nepal's civil war. She met women and children who were suffering, struggling to survive. "It changed me," said Doyne.
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Photos: Helping Nepali kids blossom
Doyne is now the legal guardian of 43 children. The youngest is 1 and the oldest is 16.
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Photos: Helping Nepali kids blossom
Doyne started the BlinkNow Foundation to support and grow her efforts. From the very beginning, she has worked in tandem with the local community. "It's really important to me that this is a Nepali project, working for Nepal, for the community."
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Photos: Helping Nepali kids blossom
In 2010, the group opened its Kopila Valley School, which today educates more than 350 students. They also receive books, food and medical care.
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Photos: Helping Nepali kids blossom
Kopila -- which means "flower bud" in Nepali -- is home to about 50 children. "We're a family," Doyne said. "Everybody just pitches in and helps each other. They all have their chores. ... And everybody cooks the meals together and makes sure that they do their part to make the home run smoothly."
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Photos: Helping Nepali kids blossom
"It's become a community," said Doyne, whose group bought a new piece of property to create a green and sustainable off-the-grid campus.
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Photos: Helping Nepali kids blossom
Ravi is the youngest in the family. His name means 'sunlight.' He's the love of my life," said Doyne.
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Doyne called her parents and asked them to wire her the $5,000 she had earned babysitting. She purchased land in Surkhet and worked with the local community to build the Kopila Valley Children's Home. Today, Kopila -- which means "flower bud" in Nepali -- is home to about 50 children, from infants to teenagers.
In 2010, the group opened its Kopila Valley School, which today educates more than 350 students. Doyne's BlinkNow Foundation supports these efforts.
CNN Top Ten Hero Maggie Doyne 01:50
'Walking off the war'
Iraq and Afghanistan combat veteran Sean Gobin's nonprofit, Warrior Hike, has a unique way to help combat vets process their troubling war experiences. Gobin calls it, "walking off the war." The idea came during a 2012 hike along the 2,168-mile Appalachian Trail.
"Hiking eight hours a day, I was processing all of these experiences that I had put away," said the Charlottesville, Virginia, native. "And I knew that there were other combat veterans that needed to do that."
Photos: 'Walking off the war'
Sean Gobin and his nonprofit support U.S. combat veterans as they "walk off the war" on the Appalachian Trail and other long-distance hikes throughout the country.
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Photos: 'Walking off the war'
Ranging from two to six months, these journeys give veterans a chance to connect with nature and work through their issues while enjoying the camaraderie and support of other war veterans.
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Photos: 'Walking off the war'
Gobin's nonprofit, Warrior Hike, supplies all the equipment and supplies they need. To date, more than 70 veterans have participated in the program.
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Photos: 'Walking off the war'
"Hiking the trail is like a reset button," Gobin said. "It helps you become a civilian again."
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Photos: 'Walking off the war'
Michelle, a U.S. Air Force combat veteran, completed Warrior Hike's trek on the Appalachian Trail this year before returning home to her young daughter.
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Photos: 'Walking off the war'
Gobin also organizes weekly trail town stops, where locals give the hikers a hot meal and a chance to take a shower and sleep in a real bed.
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Photos: 'Walking off the war'
Gobin (second from right) is a U.S. Marine tank commander who fought in Iraq in 2003 and 2005 and then in Afghanistan in 2011.
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Photos: 'Walking off the war'
Warrior Hike participants summit Mt. Katahadin in Maine after their six-month journey on the Appalachian Trail.
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Photos: 'Walking off the war'
Gobin: "No one else understands the struggles a veteran experiences when they come home like another veteran. To see that change that's happening in the veterans involved with Warrior Hike makes all the work worthwhile."
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Warrior Hike provides combat veterans with all the equipment and supplies they need to complete long-distance hikes throughout the country. Ranging from two to six months, these journeys give veterans a chance to connect with nature and work through their issues while enjoying the camaraderie and support of other war veterans.
CNN Top Ten Hero Sean Gobin 01:54
Bringing water to drought-stricken people
For CNN Hero Bhagwati Agrawal, it was a water crisis in his homeland that spurred him to act. His nonprofit, Sustainable Innovations, created a rainwater harvesting system that now provides life-changing, safe drinking water to more than 10,000 people across six villages in the driest region of India.
Photos: Harvesting rainwater for India's driest region
For the last 12 years, CNN Hero Bhagwati Agrawal has been fighting the water crisis in his homeland of India. He and his nonprofit created a rainwater harvesting system called Aakash Ganga -- Hindi for "River from the Sky."
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Photos: Harvesting rainwater for India's driest region
Aakash Ganga is a network of rooftops, gutters, pipes and underground reservoirs that collect and store the monsoon rains. Now the system provides clean, safe drinking water to six villages -- 10,000 people -- all year long. Pictured here, a sign shows one village's layout of household and community tanks.
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Photos: Harvesting rainwater for India's driest region
"Growing up, every morning I accompanied my mother to fetch water—a daily ritual," Agrawal said. No longer having to spend hours trekking miles to fetch water each day now enables women to become more economically productive.
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Photos: Harvesting rainwater for India's driest region
Aakash Ganga was designed to provide water to the whole community. Half of the water collected from the rooftops goes to the homeowners. The other half goes to a community reservoir.
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Photos: Harvesting rainwater for India's driest region
Agrawal started his nonprofit, Sustainable Solutions, after a successful career in the U.S. doing research and development at Fortune 500 companies.
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Photos: Harvesting rainwater for India's driest region
The rainwater is clean and safe. Agrawal says the people call it "sweet water."
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Photos: Harvesting rainwater for India's driest region
Agrawal's system integrates the villages' cultural traditions. "For the system to last, it needs to be embraced by the community. They need to be part of it."
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California's record-breaking drought has made news, but in Rajasthan, water scarcity is a way of life. Women and children walk miles to get water and clean dishes with sand to conserve it. His system, called Aakash Ganga -- Hindi for "River from the Sky" -- is a network of rooftops, gutters, pipes and underground reservoirs that collect and store the monsoon rains, which fall from July to September.
The system frees adults to spend time doing more valuable activities. Not having to fetch water allows children, especially girls, to spend more time in school. People report fewer health problems. Dairy cows have become twice as productive.
"The way I look at it, I'm 70 years old" Agrawal told CNN. "I only have maybe 10 years left of active life. Right now I'm like Usain Bolt, the sprinter. ... And I will run very fast to accomplish this mission."
CNN Top Ten Hero Bhagwati Agrawal 01:49
Breaking the cycle of homelessness
Kim Carter of San Bernardino, California, cycled in and out of incarceration and homelessness until she decided it was time for a change. Now her nonprofit, Time For Change, helps hundreds of women in similar circumstances reclaim their lives.
The group provides housing, counseling and job training, as well as services to help women reunite with their children.
Photos: Breaking the cycle of homelessness
Through her Time for Change Foundation, Top 10 CNN Hero Kim Carter helps homeless women and children reclaim their lives.
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Photos: Breaking the cycle of homelessness
The group provides housing, counseling and job training, as well as services to help women reunite with their children.
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Photos: Breaking the cycle of homelessness
"Homeless women and children -- I call them invisible people. We pretend that we don't see them," Carter said. "But I see them. And I know there's something we can do to help them."
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Photos: Breaking the cycle of homelessness
Carter and her group helped Griselda, right, reunite with her two daughters. "I can never, ever get back those years that I lost with my daughter, but I can help make sure another mother doesn't lose time with hers," Carter said.
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Photos: Breaking the cycle of homelessness
Since 2002, more than 800 women have benefited from Carter's program.
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Photos: Breaking the cycle of homelessness
As part of Carter's program, women create individual plans for self-sufficiency, and the group provides services and support to help them reach their goals
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Photos: Breaking the cycle of homelessness
Carter plays a game with children and their mothers at the foundation's affordable housing complex in San Bernardino, California.
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Photos: Breaking the cycle of homelessness
Carter spent more than a decade cycling in and out of prison and homelessness. In 1993, she was accepted into a rehabilitation program that started her on a path to overhaul her life and get clean.
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"Homeless women and children -- I call them invisible people. We pretend that we don't see them," Carter said. "But I see them. And I know there's something we can do to help them."
Since 2002, more than 800 women -- many of them formerly incarcerated -- have benefited from Carter's program.
CNN Top Ten Hero Kim Carter 01:48
Fulfilling a promise to her Native American grandmother
Growing up, Rochelle Ripley spent her summers listening to her grandmother's stories. Her grandmother, a full-blooded Lakota, taught her about their culture and the struggles faced by the people. Before her grandmother died, she asked Ripley to do one thing: Go home and help their people.
Today, Ripley is fulfilling that promise. Through her nonprofit, hawkwing, she has delivered an estimated $9 million in services and goods to the Lakota people.
Photos: Bringing hope to the Lakota people
Rochelle Ripley and her nonprofit, hawkwing, provide healthcare and education opportunities to the Lakota people in South Dakota.
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Photos: Bringing hope to the Lakota people
The Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation is located in an isolated area of South Dakota -- a three-hour drive from the nearest large city. Poverty runs rampant on the reservation. So does unemployment, alcoholism and diabetes.
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Photos: Bringing hope to the Lakota people
"The spirit of the people, it's alive," said Ripley, whose group works alongside the tribe.
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Photos: Bringing hope to the Lakota people
Ripley's efforts started with the group providing holiday boxes to every child on the reservation, about 2,600, she said. They all get new clothes, toys, books, personal care products and school supplies. "It was to form and build relationships. We continue that to this day."
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Photos: Bringing hope to the Lakota people
Four to five times a year, Ripley makes the trip from her home in Connecticut to the Cheyenne River Reservation. To date, her nonprofit has delivered an estimated $9 million in services and goods to the Lakota people.
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Photos: Bringing hope to the Lakota people
When Ripley was young and visiting her grandmother's farm in Indiana, her grandmother told Rochelle stories about her Native American heritage and asked that Rochelle one day go and help the Lakota people.
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Photos: Bringing hope to the Lakota people
Ripley and volunteers help run a food bank and provide free health services, home renovations and educational opportunities.
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Photos: Bringing hope to the Lakota people
Ripley: "We're all children of this earth, and we need to work together so that everyone has a chance at having a decent life.
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Photos: Bringing hope to the Lakota people
The tribe calls her "Wa Okiye Winyan," which roughly means woman who is helping people.
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Ripley's group helps those in need with employment, safe housing and healthy food.
Four to five times a year, Ripley makes the trip from her home in Glastonbury, Connecticut, to South Dakota's Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. Working alongside the tribe, she and volunteers run a food bank and provide free health services, home renovations and educational opportunities.
CNN Top Ten Hero Rochelle Ripley 01:48
Being there for single parents with cancer
For single parents, dealing with cancer offers its own set of challenges. Jody Farley-Berens saw the need firsthand, when her childhood friend faced that situation.
"Making ends meet is insurmountable," said Farley-Berens. "There are so many doctors' appointments, copays, surgeries, prescriptions. And then the inability to work -- any savings that there may have been is gone very quickly."
She did all she could to help. After her friend passed away, Farley-Berens helped start a nonprofit dedicated to assisting others in similar circumstances.
Photos: Being there for single parents with cancer
Jody Farley-Berens' nonprofit provides assistance to single moms in the Phoenix, Arizona, area who are battling cancer.
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Photos: Being there for single parents with cancer
Nearly 12 million parents in the United States currently are raising kids on their own. When single parents face a devastating illness such as cancer, everyday needs like cleaning and cooking can become a struggle.
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Photos: Being there for single parents with cancer
Since 2006, Farley-Berens and her network of volunteers have given practical, financial, and emotional support to more than 300 parents and their children.
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Photos: Being there for single parents with cancer
The group focuses on day-to-day support, such as bringing prepared meals and supplies for the home, doing housecleaning and paying bills. "It's that old-fashioned mentality of neighbors helping neighbors," Farley-Berens said.
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Photos: Being there for single parents with cancer
Farley-Berens saw the need firsthand, when her childhood friend — a single mother of four— battled breast cancer. "Paying the bills, cleaning her home, making dinner for her kids -- all of that became a real struggle. ... I just tried to do those little things that I hoped would relieve her of some stress," Farley-Berens said.
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Photos: Being there for single parents with cancer
Farley-Berens says her group aims to help parents "focus on what's important, which is their health and their family." She hopes to start new chapters of Singleton Moms in other states.
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Photos: Being there for single parents with cancer
Farley-Berens: "It's my hope that Singleton Moms can bring joy -- and say to cancer, "You can't defeat us. We are still going to be strong and we're going to celebrate life. And you can't take that away from us."
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Since 2006, Singleton Moms has provided practical, financial and emotional support to more than 300 parents in the Phoenix, Arizona, area.
CNN Top Ten Hero Jody Farley-Berens 01:49
A 'battering ram' for patients
In Chicago's troubled neighborhoods, Dr. Daniel Ivankovich witnessed countless people struggling to get medical treatment because they were under-insured or they didn't have any insurance at all. They were put on wait lists for months, even years, just to receive basic procedures, and their injuries got worse.
"I thought to myself, this is happening in America?" he said.
So Ivankovich vowed to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay. In 2010, he co-founded the nonprofit OnePatient Global Health Initiative.
Today, Ivankovich runs three clinics in Chicago and performs more than 600 surgeries a year. He says more than 100,000 people have benefited from the program.
Photos: Healing patients in Chicago's troubled neighborhoods
Dr. Daniel Ivankovich is an orthopedic surgeon who treats patients in Chicago's troubled neighborhoods, regardless of their ability to pay.
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Photos: Healing patients in Chicago's troubled neighborhoods
In 2010, Ivankovich co-founded the nonprofit OnePatient Global Health Initiative. Today, the group runs three clinics in Chicago, and Ivankovich performs more than 600 surgeries a year.
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Photos: Healing patients in Chicago's troubled neighborhoods
Ivankovich started his efforts after years witnessing countless people struggling to get medical treatment because they did not have insurance or were under-insured. They were put on wait lists for months, even years, just to receive basic procedures, and their injuries got worse.
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Photos: Healing patients in Chicago's troubled neighborhoods
Ivankovich says more than 100,000 people have benefited from his program. "I know I can't fix everybody," he said. "My goal is to be the battering ram to help break down the barriers to get these patients the care and the resources they need."
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Photos: Healing patients in Chicago's troubled neighborhoods
Ivankovich: "Oftentimes when a patient's finally made it to our clinic, they tell me they've been hung up on by 10 or 12 other physician providers because they don't have insurance. It's heartbreaking when you hear the struggles that the patients have to go through for the basics."
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Photos: Healing patients in Chicago's troubled neighborhoods
His nonprofit operates two clinics on the South Side of Chicago and another on Chicago's North Side. Ivankovich says they never turn away a patient.
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Photos: Healing patients in Chicago's troubled neighborhoods
Ivankovich and his group treat conditions such as fractures and spinal reconstruction, and they do major joint reconstruction, primarily hips and knees.
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Photos: Healing patients in Chicago's troubled neighborhoods
Ivankovich hopes to expand his nonprofit's focus to include preventive health care. "Our goal is to make every patient we touch an agent of their own wellness and health."
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"I know I can't fix everybody," he said. "My goal is to be the battering ram to help break down the barriers to get these patients the care and the resources they need."
CNN Top Ten Hero Dr. Daniel Ivankovich 01:58
As part of their award package, each Hero will also receive free organizational training from the Annenberg Foundation, a leading supporter of nonprofits worldwide. The Heroes will participate in a customized version of the Annenberg Alchemy program, which offers practical guidance to help strengthen organizations for long-term success.
Learn more at CNNHeroes.com.