November 27, 2008 - CNN All-Star Tribute, Kodak Theater

What a night. Today I was honored as one of CNN’s top ten heroes for 2008. Being in the Kodak Theater was a bit surreal – it’s the same theater where the Grammys are held. Anderson Cooper hosted it and Grammy Award-winning artists Alicia Keys and John Legend performed. Celebrities who presented awards were Cameron Diaz, Meg Ryan, Forest Whitaker, Salma Hayek, Lucy Liu, Terrence Howard, Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale and Selena Gomez. In addition, Hugh Jackman presented PEOPLE Magazine’s 2008 “Heroes Among Us”.

It was so great to be there with two of the guys from the team, Seth Lambert and Tim Wolkowicz. All three of us sat in the front row during the ceremony. There were so many famous people present and because I’m not up with pop culture I did not recognize many of them. John Krasinski, Len Wiseman, Molly Sims, Ricki Lake, Eliza Dushku, Ken Paves, Leelee Sobieski, Rachael Leigh Cook, Rachel Zoe, Taylor Swift and Robert Duvall were some of the many stars who were there to celebrate with us.

But, I must say, the highlight of the whole night was meeting the other CNN heroes. I had a chance to talk with each one of them, and it was truly inspiring. All of us had the same hearts – we simply wanted to live lives that changed the world around us. We can’t make everything better but we can live lives of change and help where we can with the resources and abilities we have.

Beyond that…meeting Lucy Liu was a bit of a surprise. After the tribute was over each hero was supposed to get pictures taken with the star that presented their award. John Krasinski, who gave me my award, had to leave shortly after the tribute so I was standing alone. Then all of a sudden this beautiful person walked up to me and said, “Hi, my name is Lucy Liu! Your work is wonderful and impressive. Would you like to take a picture together?”


Overall it was a wonderful evening. I was thankful to be with my men, the other heroes, and to be honored for all the hard work that has gone into taking the dream of the First Response Team and making it a reality. Thank you.