Results known on Thanksgiving night.
HEROISM is alive more than ever. Just ask Efren Peñaflorida.
Efren is one of the founders of Dynamic Teen Company (DTC),which has launched several youth awareness projects, talent and self-development activities and community services. DTC is best known for their "pushcart classes," where they conduct classes for kids who do not have the opportunity or means for a proper education.
Every Saturday, DTC replicates a school setting in the most unlikely places like the cemetery and the municipal trash dump to teach kids, with ages ranging form 2 to 14, the basics of counting, reading and writing. Currently, the pushcart classroom has a total of 350 enrollees in four sites in Cavite. The group hopes to bring the "pushcart classroom" into the roads of Manila soon, having already conducted ocular inspections in Leon Guinto in Malate.
DTC, which now has 125 volunteers and still counting, brought a much welcome change to many kids in Cavite, most of whom have resorted to petty crimes and violence prior to DTC’s assistance. For this, Efren and DTC received praises from various media groups and other prominent figures, including Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who says that the country could use a "transformational leader" like Efren.
Efren and his group’s wondrous deeds also caught the attention of a staff member of Oprah’s Angel Network, a website inspired by respected daytime TV host Oprah Winfrey who suggested that Efren’s story be featured on the site. In December 2008, someone from CNN got wind of Efren and his group’s efforts and got in touch with them, suggesting that they submit Efren’s story for CNN Hero of the Year. In January 2009, the CNN staff flew in from New York to interview Efren personally and to shoot footages of their activities.
Last Oct. 2, Anderson Cooper in the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360ª announced that Efren was selected by a distinguished Blue Ribbon Panel to be one of the ten finalists for the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year. In line with this, the news network will host the star-studded gala for CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute on Thanksgiving night, November 26, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles to be seen worldwide.
CNN reports that more than 9,000 nominations were received for this year, more than twice the number of nominations submitted in the past year.
"This record number of nominations is further evidence of the momentum CNN Heroes has built in just a few short years," said Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide.
Efren learned of the good news through a text message from his principal at The Palm Ridge School in Bacoor, Cavite, where he is employed full-time as a member of the faculty. Several of his friends also sent text messages to congratulate him on the honor. Shout-outs also poured in for Efren in the social networking site, Facebook.
"It is overwhelming," he tells the Asian Journal, adding that he is merely a representative of his group and the whole country. He also wishes to share the honor with the other Filipino heroes making a difference in the country like he is, especially those who lent a helping hand to their fellowmen during Typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng.
The online poll for the CNN Hero of the Year at CNN.com/Heroes ended last Nov. 19 EST.
( Published November 20, 2009 in LifeEASTyle p. 2 )
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