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.

October 8, 2008 - Top Ten CNN Hereos

This morning CNN’s Anderson Cooper announced that I was selected along with nine other people by a blue ribbon panel as a finalist for CNN’s Hero of the Year 2008! It was exciting because I was a bit nervous, not knowing if I would make it to the top ten or not. I knew that if I made it to the top ten the exposure would be great for the team!

For the last year and a half, I have fully paid for this operation myself, and I’m at the point where I have completely exhausted my financial resources. The only way I can continue the work of the team is to start a non-profit, and this exposure will help get it off the ground. Funding is needed for the 2009 storm season, and I’m hoping this endorsement from the most trusted name in news will help us with that.

Being in the top ten means I and nine other honorees will be saluted during the 'CNN HEROES All-Star Tribute' to be broadcast on the global networks of CNN on Thanksgiving night, Thursday, November 27th.

The Blue Ribbon Panel of judges that chose us included: Queen Rania Al Abdullah, founder of the Jordan River Foundation; Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, founder and chair of This World: The Jewish Values Network; Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Unite, the not-for-profit foundation of Virgin Group; Deepak Chopra, doctor, philosopher, author and speaker; Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute; Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association; Earvin “Magic” Johnson, founder and chairman of the Magic Johnson Foundation; George Lopez, comedian, actor and founder of The George & Ann Lopez-Richie Alarcon CARE Foundation; Jeffrey Sachs, director of The Earth Institute and co-founder and president of the Millennium Promise Alliance; Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu; Kristi Yamaguchi, founder of The Always Dream Foundation; and Holly Robinson Peete, activist and advocate through the HollyRod Foundation.

The public will be able to vote and select the “CNN Hero of the Year” via voting at the CNN Heroes site from now through Wednesday, Nov. 19. At the November gala, CNN will honor the 10 heroes and reveal the CNN Hero of the Year, who will receive an additional $100,000. In its second year, the multiplatform initiative received nearly 4,000 submissions from 75 countries. So in other words…please vote for me. The team could really use the money!