Everyday Hero Stories

Where did your values come from?

We've all had people in our lives who have made a positive impact on us. A parent or grandparent, a sibling who was there for us, or maybe even just a guy who shines shoes for a living? Whoever they are, tell us their story so they can inspire us even more.

Tell Us Your Story
COMPASSION
GOOD SAMARITAN On a cold winter drive home at dusk through New Orleans East, I witness an act of kindness that brought tears to my eyes. A young black man (we'll call him "J") that I know, was commuting along side me. This young man grew up in some of the roughest neighborhoods in the area. He knows the city and its...
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LIVE YOUR DREAMS
JANCI A My hero is my 17 year-old niece. I am 42 years old. I was not able to have children, so she is a very prominent person in my life, as my sister has allowed me to be a part of their lives and witness Janci's life. Janci is the person that I wish I had become. At a young age she portrayed grace, sincerity, and...
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HOPE
CHARLENE P My sister, Charlene, fought the battle of ovarian cancer. She subjected her body to treatments and pain that no human should suffer. She never lost her will to live, or more importantly her will to love! Her poor body gave out, but her spirit lives on! She was the most courageous and peaceful loving soul I have...
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DETERMINATION
EDWARD W My dad had two triple bypass heart surgeries and with the first one he only had 1% of survival rate, he had a stroke, and he fought two types of cancers for four years when he was given 6 months to live... he raised his family to know the true meaning of family, he was stern but loving there is nothing he...
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RESPONSIBILITY
JAMES A Daddy served in the Army and fought in the Korean War. There were some close calls but He made it home. Not long after he got back to the USA he married my Mother. May 13, 1964 my mother was killed in a car wreck, leaving my little brother age 3, sister age 5 and myself age 10. My hero, Daddy, owned his own...
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COMPASSION
KATHY K My Aunt Kathy was one of the most special people I have known in my life. She was the kind of person that never said a bad word about anyone, she was loved by everyone that ever knew her. She was not a perfect person, she made mistakes, but she helped me through some hard times growing up and always made me feel...
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DEDICATION
RICK A Rick Allen of Def Leppard is my hero because when he lost his arm he continued to play drums with the band and have a positive outlook on life. Although he struggled, he overcame his depression.
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HELPING OTHERS
FROM THE MOUTH OF BABES... My 8 year old son, Ben, was siting in the back seat of the car last week on the way to religious education class. He said," Mommy, I saw a commercial last night that said someone grew a huge squash. They took the squash to the homeless shelter and it fed 100 people. So I was thinking, if one squash could feed...
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE
BILL B Bill donated his bone marrow to two unrelated donors at separate times. He also had stem cells harvested for one of the donors. This process is VERY painful but Bill knew he HAD to make the sacrifice. I am very proud of my husband...he's my hero for something he's done for others.
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PERSEVERANCE
OSCAR B My hero is my dad. I'm only 19 years old, he's 64 with stage 3 lung cancer. He was never a smoker, and I wish this hadn't happened to him. I'm so worried he won't make it through. He's my hero because he's a fighter. He doesn't stand down from anything. He was in the army, and survived that, married my mom, and...
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FORGIVENESS
FORGIVE AND LET LIVE Born in Poland, my mother did not have the means to support a child and abandoned me. I grew up in a small orphanage outside Wroclaw and worked until I raised enough money to travel to the United States. Shortly after I arrived in Queens, I was hit by a taxi cab. The driver fled. I was hospitalized for 3 months...
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STRENGTH
JOANNE M It's not everyday that a child is born into the arms of a remarkable mother. I am blessed to have the best mom and I am thankful for the sacrifices she made and continues to make to give me the best that life has to offer. Throughout the good and bad times in my life, my mom has exemplified true strength and...
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HARD WORK
LOUISE P My Mom is my hero. She displays the virtues of love, determination, responsibility, and hark work every day. She has a job that keeps her busy a lot and even requires her to be on call some times. She is also married to a farmer which means that she never really has a day off. Somewhere in between her job in town...
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FRIENDSHIP
A GOOD FRIEND A good friend is someone who cares.I have a good friend. He is by my side 24 seven. Whenever I'm sad he makes me happy, he is so funny. My dad left me when I was 4, Boon [my friend] he is kind of like a dad to me. He thinks I love him as a friend but I don't; I love him as a family member. I've known him since...
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FRIENDSHIP
A REAL FRIEND When I moved back to my hometown, Taiwan, I had to repeat the same grade. At the time, I was sad and disappointed. But, one of my elementary classmates encouraged me every time I failed a test. Now she is at senior high school and I want to tell her, "Thank you so much, and I won't forget your support and...
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OVERCOMING
MICHAEL L My son Michael is 7. At 3 years old, he could only talk in vowels and was a little different. His preschool suggested we send him elsewhere. At 4 1/2 he was diagnosed with autism. Through lots of his hard work, and his dedicated teachers and therapists, he is now fully mainstreamed in 2nd grade. He was just...
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CARING
FOSTER FAMILY My grandparents are foster parents. I help her all the time with her 3 yr old foster kid Chris. He doesn't have wrinkles in his brain, so it takes him a while to learn. My grandparents have over 50 kids and Chris is the one who made me realize, just because I am 13 doesn't mean I can't do big things!
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STRENGTH
MARVIN F I know it sounds corny, but my father is my hero. He has survived 5 heart attacks that the doctor has caught. He is still kicking and fighting to stay alive for his new grandson. I don't know where that man finds his strength but it is truly inspirational to everyone he meets. More importantly he is my...
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LOVE
STEVE V My hero is my boyfriend Steve. I honestly do love him and appreciate all the things he does for me! I feel as if no one can compare; soon we are going to celebrate 3 years together. I am so lucky to have someone like him, who is amazing, hard working, a great father and loyal! Not a day that goes by that he...
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HELPING OTHERS
$112 It was the last day of school. My mother and my brother were taking a trip to Washington, D.C. They came back with the most amazing story I had ever heard! It just so happened that when they arrived in New York, my mother and brother's train had a malfunction. The conductors asked everyone to move forward to...
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APPRECIATION
PEGGY M My mother has to be my hero. With only an eighth grade education, she raised four kids on a seamstress pay after she and my father divorced when I was 10. I remember her barely having any money to buy presents for us at Christmas, but she never acted down, always keeping our spirits up. We knew we were poor, but...
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SACRIFICE
ASHLEY LAUREN M Ashley was a great kid. She always wanted to help whenever she could. On Jan. 5th 2010 she crossed the street to get to her school bus stop, and was struck by a car. She was air lifted to SLC Primary Children's Hospital. She fought for 8 days to survive but on Jan. 13th the injury to her brain became too much and...
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HELPING OTHERS
PAM T Pam Tomlinson is the founder of Kids Defense Team. She is disabled and cannot work. I see her in pain everyday. Sometimes she stays in bed and works. She helps children all over the USA. She says she does not want to sit around and do nothing. She uses her own money to pay for the organization and pay for the...
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CHARACTER
JULIE J My friend Julie, showed character, compassion, strength and faith in her last days of battling a progressive cancer that took her life. Julie had a husband and 4 children. I used to live a life of a practicing addict and in those days she would allow me to visit her church with her family (knowing I would go back...
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HARD WORK
TRY YOUR BEST One day in school, I didn't do my best because I knew I could do better and my teacher knew it too. She told me I could do much better. The next day I tried a lot harder and it turned out to be great. The feeling of working hard and doing your best is really rewarding. Hard work really does pay off in the long run.
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RESPECT
NO BULLYING! As bullying gets worse and worse, I've come to realize how bad it actually is. Every time I see someone at school in the halls (popular-unpopular) getting bullied it just enrages me. There is one specific kid I can't stand to see bullied. He is an autistic kid named Caleb and is in my homeroom class. I have gone...
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HELPING OTHERS
TONY L My father was an Air Force pilot. While on assignment out of the country, his office was near the runway. One day as he was looking at paperwork he watched a US plane overshoot the runway and crash, the end of the runway had a large drop off. He knew he needed to get there quickly to help. He jumped down the...
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE
VALUES-COM You are my hero! Yes, YOU, the people that make up this website, Values-com. I read through the FAQs, and spent some time looking through your website, and finally came to the conclusion that indeed there is someone on this planet who genuinely cares about people, all people, regardless of their religious creed...
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FORGIVENESS
MERCEDES C My mother, Mercedes Coronado, who most know as "Meche" is my hero, not because she has special powers but because she is the most amazing person I have ever met. I honestly believe that she has the biggest heart in the world, my mother is not much of a emotional talker but she says so much with her actions. This...
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HELPING OTHERS
MISS TILLIE K Miss Tillie is a wonderful lady who spent 20+ years with AT&T as a trainer and lived in several locations around the world, including Africa. When she retired, she became involved in consulting and working with shelters and homes for women who were battered, abused and often times addicted. She observed that...
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ENCOURAGEMENT
SHARON'S STORY I am in a wheelchair. However, the wheelchair is not in me. I talk to people wherever I am. A smile can brighten up anyone's day. I hope people see me in the chair and think, "Hey, if she can laugh and smile so can I."
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DETERMINATION
CAROLE ZOOM P At age 13, Carole developed muscular dystrophy and lost the ability to walk. She mastered an electric wheelchair so well, she earned the nickname "Zoom". At UT-Austin in the late 80's, she organized protests that led to changes that provided wheelchair access to buses and campus buildings. 15 years later, she...
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GIVING BACK
CHANGED MY LIFE Hi, my name is Ed Maenner and I wanted to share a recent story. A few months ago I ran into one of the nicest people I have ever met and we started talking. At the time, I had just lost my job, my wife and I were on the verge of divorce and I was feeling really lousy about my life and who I was as a person. So he...
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