50 Inspiring People of 2009

I created this list below as part of a group writing project called “2009 in Review” initiated by http://www.dailyblogtips.com/ and to honor 50 inspiring people of 2009 (there are so many, but here are some).  I hope these people inspire you with their virtuous stories of creativity, perseverance, courage, compassion, and service to name some.  They are shining examples of the greatness of humanity.  

1. On January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, miraculously landed a plane in the Hudson River, saving all 155 passengers and crew.

2. Singing sensation Susan Boyle stormed the Britain’s Got Talent TV show this year.  http://bit.ly/e2og

3. Michael J. Fox released his book this year entitled, Always Looking Up:  The Adventure of an Incurable Optimist, further communicating his unwavering optimism in spite of a debilitating illness and the uncertainty of a cure.

4. The management of Starbucks who awarded 50 Shared Plant Youth Action Grants totaling $842,000 to US non-profit organizations to help support young people to identify and address local needs.  One of these organizations include the Food Project in Boston.  http://bit.ly/NL8XM

5. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Habitat for Humanity’s Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Reckford will construct houses for 50,000 families in the Mekong region over the next five years.  http://bit.ly/4nHWCj

6. Brent Green, a modern-day Johnny Appleseed, according to CBS’s Sunday Morning, has helped transform his LA neighborhood one tree at a time.  He will plant 41 trees in 2009.  http://bit.ly/6V9ru7

7. NASA engineers who invented the NASA Ares 1 Rocket, which can launch human beings to cosmic destinations never considered before. http://bit.ly/7ne3Co

8. An amazing funk jam created by Ophir Kutiel, or Kutiman, an Israeli musician who took footage posted on YouTube by amateur musicians and mixed this footage together (drums, piano, synth, theremin, vocals, etc.) to create a video called ThruYOU.  His video made Time magazine’s top 50 Best Inventions of 2009 and took him just two months to finish. http://thru-you.com/#/videos/

9. An 18-year-old cancer survivor, Carl Casper, who is legally blind, has collected and recycled hundreds of thousands of bottle caps for cash.  He has raised 15,000 dollars with local businesses matching his gifts.  All of his donations go to Philadelphia Ronald McDonald house where he spent a lot of time.  http://bit.ly/12Op2F

10. Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, in his movie  “This is It” shows his masterful talent and loving and gentle nature.  http://www.michaeljackson.com/us/home

11. Students of Irvington High School, Fremont, CA, won the coveted title of “America’s Greenest School,” with nearly 2,000 students from hundreds of schools competing nationwide.  This was the first annual essay contest sponsored by leading school bus manufacturer IC Bus. America voted among the top ten finalists and chose Irvington High School as the prestigious winner. http://bit.ly/816UtN

12. Karen Armstrong, winner of the 2008 TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) prize, along with religious leaders from around the world, unveiled the Charter for Compassion on November 12, 2009 at the National Press Club. The Charter is a single document, endorsed by HH the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu among others. http://charterforcompassion.org/

13. The U.S. Postal Service resumed the North Pole Santa letters, which has made millions of children around the world happy for decades.  http://bit.ly/6EDDOZ

14. Postal employee Alan Girad spotted an apartment complex on fire and rushed into the burning building without thought of consequences.  He, with the help of four other carriers who arrived at the scene, helped dozens of elderly residents escape the flames.

15. Postal employee Melissa Kelley, mother of two, on her route, saw an elderly man being attacked by a pit bull.  She threw herself in front of the man and used pepper spray to fight off the dog, saving the man’s life.

16. Postal employee Pattie Arismendez noticed, while on the job, a toddler wondering alone into a busy street.  She ran into traffic to rescue the child and then went door-to-door searching for the child’s mother.

17. Postal employee Robert Sweeny was just finishing his day when a frightened mother ran out of her home because her baby wasn’t breathing.  Robert grabbed the baby and began CPR, saving the baby’s life according to Paramedics.

18. Postal employee Walter Hayes was delivering mail when he witnessed a 6-year-old boy get hit by a car.  Walter rushed to the boy’s side and immediately called 911.  He threw his body over the boy to prevent him from going into shock.

19. Cheerleaders Sarah Herr and teammate Sarah Cronk, after volunteering at the Special Olympics, approached their coach with the idea to create a squad that would include girls with special needs.  Since then, Bettendorf, Iowa, has been the home of the Spartan Sparkles, which includes girls between 8-15, born with a range of developmental disabilities, some having autism and Down Syndrome. 

20. The management of the Goodwill Industries of South Florida, Miami, a national nonprofit organization, returned a bronze statue back to the donor after discovering its worth of $500,000.  http://bit.ly/uLP9E

21. Singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder, blind since birth, has joined the prestigious roster of United Nations Messengers of Peace to advocate for the Organization’s work, championing people with disabilities.  http://bit.ly/5za6I8

22. Eva Longoria Parker has been named “Philanthropist of the Year” by The Hollywood Reporter for her extensive charity efforts, raising millions of dollars and donating lots of her time. http://bit.ly/4VMoF6

23. Albert Fischer has donated 40 gallons of blood over nearly six decades and said to Guideposts that giving is the “Greatest feeling.” http://bit.ly/1LLuO1

24. Bill and Melinda Gates announced that they will be donating $290 million to school districts in need of education reform, the largest education grant in a decade. 

25. Sgt. Kimberly Munley and Sgt. Mark Todd, two civilian police officers, brought down Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood on November 5.  

26. For the past four years, Brad Blauser, 43, a native from Dallas, Texas, has been providing hope to hundreds of disabled Iraqi children and their families through the distribution of pediatric wheelchairs.  Since 2005 his Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids program has distributed nearly 650 free wheelchairs.  http://bit.ly/1bn9Sq

27. For the last five years, Jorge Munoz, who has devoted a substantial amount of his time and money, provides daily free meals to the hungry in Queens, a borough of New York City.  Munoz finances his mission with his modest salary as a school bus driver.  He buys the food, helps cook it and then personally delivers it daily!   http://www.anangelinqueens.org/

28. Major Tobin Griffeth and Capt. Katie Illingworth, two Air Force officers serving at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, began a charity drive for warm clothes, shoes and school supplies to suffering Afghans through a heated football rivalry.  http://bit.ly/5eHkAC

29. Efren Penaflorida, “CNN’s 2009 Hero of the Year,” gives Filipino youth an alternative to gang memberships through education.  His Dynamic Teen Company’s 12,000 members have taught basic reading and writing to 1,700 kids living in slums. http://www.dynamicteencompany.org/

30. A 12-year-old caring kid Zach Bonner of Tampa, FL is dedicated to helping homeless children.  Last year he made a 1200-mile walk called, “My House to the White House” to raise money to house homeless youth, and is now embarked on a coast-to-coast walk to benefit a Los Angeles boys and girls club.  http://bit.ly/8oMIVz

31. Former addict Roy Foster, since 2000, has operated the Stand Down House, a facility that helps give about 900 male veterans a second chance.  http://bit.ly/LoLGD

32. Bartender Doc Hendley’s organization, Wine to Water, is dedicated to providing clean water to people in developing countries through funds he has raised at wine tasting events.  http://www.winetowater.org/

33. Andrea Ivory, a 50-year-old survivor of breast cancer from West Park, FL, enrolls volunteers, every weekend in the spring and fall, to educate women in neighborhoods door-to-door about breast health.   http://bit.ly/xF2nr

34. Betty Makoni, a Zimbabwe native, founded the Girl Child Network to provide a haven for young victims of sexual abuse.  Since 2001, the organization has rescued more than 35,000 girls.  http://girlchildnetworkworldwide.org/

35. Kaleb Eulls, 18, saw a 14-year-old girl waving a gun around his school bus and went into action.  The 6-foot-4-inch, 255 pound high school senior who has verbally committed to playing for Mississippi State University after graduation, tackled the girl and knocked the .38 caliber semi-automatic out of her hands, allowing the 20 other children on the bus to escape unharmed.  http://bit.ly/J2fX4

36. Budi Soehardi, a 53-year-old Indonesian pilot and his wife, Peggy, who live in Singapore, take care of 47 children at the West Timor orphanage they founded in 2002.  After watching a CNN report on the plight of the refugees fleeing East Timor for West Timor, they took a trip to West Timor and decided that a place was needed to house the orphans.  http://www.roslinorphanage.org/

37. Drummer Derrick Tabb, 34, has transformed New Orleans children from troublemakers to tuba players. His program, The Roots of Music, offers free tutoring, instruments and music education to more than 100 students.  http://bit.ly/N5SsV

38. Jordan Thomas, while on a scuba diving trip on Aug. 16, 2005, was struck by a boat propeller and lost both of his legs from the calf down.  He started the Jordan Thomas Foundation to help raise money for children with traumatic injuries who were not as fortunate as he was monetarily.  He has raised more than $400,000 through bracelets, charity golf tournaments and cookouts. http://www.jordanthomasfoundation.org/

39. CEO Paul Levy, 59, of Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, was faced with the painful prospect of having to cut 600 jobs because of budget shortfalls.  He chose an alternative route by involving the entire hospital staff in brainstorming ways to avoid layoffs.  http://bit.ly/74UaJY

40. Brian Boyle, who was injured in a horrific car accident, recovered to become a triathlete.  His memoir, Iron Heart, tells the story of his miraculous journey and how he overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to compete in the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.  http://bit.ly/KgEVY

41. Robert Quinn, founder and executive director of Scholars at Risk, in New York, along with a small staff, match scholars with a network of more than 200 universities and colleges in 26 countries to help find a place where academics can work free from threats to their physical, emotional, and professional safety. http://bit.ly/mfCTQ

42. Fourteen-year-old Carly Houlahan and her sister Molly, in a response to losing their grandfather to cancer, turned to bees to raise money for cancer research.  Bee Keepers since about 5 and 7, their grandmother taught them all they know.  The two girls started out selling honey door-to-door, and their efforts grew so much that they formed their own company, Hives for Lifes.  They have raised more than $150,000 and have local “helper bees,” supplying honey all over the country.  http://www.hivesforlives.com/

43. Marc Buoniconti became quadriplegic and also the force behind a research center that has saved or improved the lives of other spinal-cord injury victims.  http://bit.ly/5eJ6c

44. Upper East Side dry cleaner owner Carlos Vasquez gave a helping hand to the unemployed by offering free dry cleaning services for their interviews.  He has inspired other dry cleaners around the country to do the same. http://bit.ly/hbGf

45. The lively 84-year-old Lan Yin “Eiko” Tsai, wearing pumps and a classy dress, stands out at New Jersey’s City to Shore, a 150-mile bike ride that benefits multiple sclerosis research. She has been biking the event for the past 26 years, and this is her normal riding uniform.  http://bit.ly/OOcM4

46. Director Robin Baker Leacock created a film that “reinforces the notion that anyone has the capacity to give, not just those with disposable income, for giving can signify more simplistic efforts as well.”  The movie features people from a Tibetan monk to a New York City street artist demonstrating various methods by which a seemingly-effortless gesture can prove very beneficial to society. http://www.passiongiving.com/

47. Singer and Artist Tony Bennett and his wife Susan Benedetto cofounded a $78 million school in Astoria, Queens called the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts (FSSA).  The school, named in honor of his friend, Frank Sinatra helps students pursue their artistic passions.  http://bit.ly/7tHqYw

48. David Garrard, an individual living with Crohn’s disease and star quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars, has made it a personal mission to promote awareness of his illness. He has raised money for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA), and, this season, he will be repeating a fundraising effort from last year called “In the Zone for Crohn’s,” where for every touchdown he makes, $10,000 will be donated to CCFA. Last year, he raised $170,000 and hopes to exceed that goal in 2009.  http://bit.ly/5a9GMD

49. Actor and Humanitarian Paul Newman has, through Newman’s Own Foundation, has given in its twenty-six year history  over $280 million to countless charities.

Finally, there couldn’t be more Inspiring People than:

50. Our military men and women, those active and those who have passed, who bravely served and continue to serve our country to ensure America’s freedom and safety.  Thank you. 

 “Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”  ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you would like to reprint this list on your website or blog, please include a link to Virtues for Life, www.virtuesforlife.com, as the source.  Thank you.

Sources:

Bagram Airfield
BeliefNet
CBS Sunday Morning
Channel 4 of South Florida
Christian Science Monitor
CNN
Guideposts
Men’s Fitness
MSNBC
Oprah.com
Time
The Huffington Post
UN News Centre
YouTube

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