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
HELPING OTHERS
EMERGENCY HELP! Me and my best friend Angel were riding her brother's four-wheeler. She was driving down a dirt road when all of a sudden we hit a sand pile and lost control. Luckily she was okay but I wasn't. I was knocked out unconscious. At first she didn't know what to do but then she heard a truck coming down the road. So...
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SACRIFICE
SIR THOMAS MORE Though Sir Thomas More lived hundreds of years ago I admire this man. More is not only famous for writing "Utopia," one of the most famous works in the political science discipline, but he is also famous for being sentenced to death because he refused to accept King Henry VIII as supreme head of the English...
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COMPASSION
KINDERGARTEN REST TIME Our five year old daughter's kindergarten class rests during the day on towels brought from home. A new girl enrolled in her class and her mother had not sent a towel with her. The next day our daughter asked to take another towel to school. When my wife asked "What happened to the one you took...
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COURTESY
SHARING FORWARD At the grocery checkout all my items had been registered. This 78 year old absent-minded professor didn't have enough to pay the $60 I had racked up. The man behind me told the store manager to put in on his bill. He disappeared so quickly as I stood there in awe that I didn't even have a chance to thank him.
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GIVING BACK
A JAR OF COINS, A LOAF OF BREAD AND THOU One year for Christmas, my brother Chris and his wife Julie gave each of us siblings a very thoughtful gift. Inspired by the book “The Christmas Jar” By Jason F. Wright, they gave each sibling's family an empty quart size Mason Jar. A slot was cut in the plastic lid, and inside were a number of stickers and...
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TEACHING BY EXAMPLE
JUANA BETTY Z My mother was and still is my hero. She came to the USA because she believed in the American dream. She worked hard day and night to give us, her six children, the life she could only dream of. She taught us to love and forgive and to never give up! She would help anyone that needed help by giving them a smile, a...
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FRIENDSHIP
MARY JANE W My friend Mary Jane was born in Columbia. But now she is in America and we are going to film school together. She has been my best friend since we met. She opened my mind to so many new things. She taught me what it really means to appreciate music and food and art. Most of my ideas for short films are now...
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FRIENDSHIP
A KINDNESS RETURNED I grew up in Queens County, NYC in a lower middle class neighborhood in the early 1930s where I attended a public school, PS 127. There were only one or two black kids in the school at the time when I was about six years old. I befriended one of them, Robert White. The other mothers were "Put out" because I...
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APPRECIATION
JEFF AND DIANA M Jeff and Diana own and operate a state of the art, gymnastics and cheer leading training facility in McKinney, Texas. When my granddaughter began participating in their program, I was skeptical about the benefits. During the last few years I have seen physical, mental and emotional benefits to her. What really...
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PERSEVERANCE
JUDITH C My hero is my wife. At 67, she has endured 17 years of constant struggle with Parkinson's disease. In all these years I never heard her complain. Using everything medicine has to offer, plus some homeopathic measures, she has managed to overcome many of the worst Parkinson's perils. With her quiet nature and good...
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COURTESY
SURPRISED I was in my early twenties; a young mother riding the bus with my daughter in her stroller in my native Germany. On the bus I noticed a young man a bit younger than me dressed in a military looking style black jacket. He seemed very tense, and out of the corner of my eye I could see that he looked over to me and...
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DETERMINATION
FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION My nephew opened a new business in 2007 and three months later a flash flood (due to faulty highway drains) ruined everything, but his spirit. He rolled up his sleeves and with family and friends, he got the doors open in 24 hrs! Government officials looked the other way when he asked them to take care of the...
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HELPING OTHERS
LINDY M My mother in law has been a true blessing, not only to me, but to immeasurable others. Lindy's entire life has been dedicated to helping others. She helps her family, and she helps complete strangers who become family. Just since I've known her, she has helped send a young man in Haiti to college; she helped a...
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PERSEVERANCE
ASHLEY U The day Ashley was born 19 years ago, doctors told us she wouldn't be able to do much. Well, I am so pleased to say how wrong the doctors were! My beautiful daughter, Ashley, was born with Down Syndrome and can do anything and everything! This past year I have been diagnosed with a very debilitating disease, and...
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LOYALTY
ELISE M. R My Mom has supported me unconditionally in my endeavor to start a business that produces time lines of American history. She has edited my business plan and letters, listened to my ideas, let me use her car, lent me money to the point of being in danger of losing her home. This is devotion and support beyond what...
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DETERMINATION
MR. AJIBOLA MABORUKOJE M Born 1950, the late Mr. Ajibola Mabo, zealous and determined, always believed you will achieve whatever you set your mind on. Even in a poor competitive African economy, he became an industrialist with little formal education. He worked so hard to see his children get the best of education and his family secure...
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COURTESY
YOUNG EXAMPLES I had the privilege of witnessing an experience I will always remember. It occurred in the busy parking lot of a grocery store. An elderly woman was struggling to maneuver her grocery cart and unload it. A young man walking by stopped, turned around, and returned to the side of the woman. He asked if he could...
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PERSEVERANCE
CATHY K My hero is my mother. I know everyday I wake up that each day above ground is a good day. My mother has had Hodgkin's Disease & just recently overcame Breast Cancer. My mother works a full time job, even through radiation treatments, is always there when people need her & never lets the world bring her down. She...
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HARD WORK
CHLOE B My daughter, Chloe, is a beautiful little 6 year old with Down Syndrome. I am amazed EVERYDAY when I look at her. She has defied all stereotypes and diagnoses that we have ever assumed with her Syndrome. Her hard work, determination, commitment, ambition, and so many other adjectives that I could use to describe...
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FORGIVENESS
BUMPER CARS An unusual blizzard hit our area of Oklahoma on Christmas Eve. We're not set up to clear the roads from a huge storm like that. A couple of weeks later there were many parking lots and side streets that were still icy. I pulled into a parking spot at a grocery store and my tires slid a bit on the ice. My bumper...
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TEAMWORK
BEAUTIFUL TEAMWORK A number of years ago when my daughter Ellen was running high school cross-country, occasionally I assisted Coach Moore, the cross-country coach, with cross-country meets. Up until recently, the school year for students in South Carolina started in early August. If you have ever been in South Carolina in the...
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HELPING OTHERS
YOU-THE FOUNDATION FOR A BETTER LIFE When I first began seeing your ad's I wondered who this group was and if it was our tax money being diverted to someone as payback for a political favor. My husband and I decided to look up "The Foundation for a Better Life" and much to my amazement it was someone who just wanted to promote better values to...
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FRIENDSHIP
HALEY P My best friend is my hero. While I was losing myself in drugs and alcohol. She was the one that stuck around and was always there to save me from myself and helped me become sober. And now, seven months later, here I am still sober. She is my number one supporter.
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REACHING OUT
KEEP RUNNING My family runs races together, but I frequently run 5ks by myself. It was at a 5k in Tulsa where I really figured out what the whole running community is about. I was about a half a mile away from the finish line when I noticed a girl about 7 or 8 years old who was walking by herself. I had noticed her running...
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COURAGE
MY STUDENTS Each day, I have the privileged of witnessing heroic efforts. I am a special educator for preschoolers on the autism spectrum. I start each day knowing that I will learn more than I teach. That I will get more than I give. That I will have more questions than answers. The learners in my class need to fight a...
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STRENGTH
CARRIE K Through a 3+ year battle with cancer, this young lady never lost sight of what mattered to her. Her education, her family. She didn't want to be the center of attention, didn't want people to feel sorry for her. She maintained a 3.0+ grade average at a major university while suffering through chemo and surgeries....
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HONESTY
IT'S ONLY $10 DOLLARS! It was late at night after working as referrees for a High School basketball game, that my husband and another referee stopped in at a 24-hour convenience store and asked to cash the High School's single paycheck so they could split their earnings. The elderly woman working at the till agreed to cash the local...
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HELPING OTHERS
A HELPING HAND I was on the phone with my dad while I was standing in line at a McDonald's, getting my sister some lunch. On the phone I was asking my dad to borrow ten dollars because I had plans to take the train later that day, as I didn't get my paycheck for a few days. I was broke. While I was explaining my situation to...
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HELPING OTHERS
TWO CARING BOYS I have two sons, ages 14 and 11. About four years ago we had a discussion about how lucky we were to be healthy and that there are many children who are sick. I told them about the Make a Wish Foundation and they wanted to do something to contribute to that great organization. They bought a bubble gum machine,...
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GENEROSITY
A KIND HEART ON FLIGHT 662 January 12, 2010 My name is Erica F. I am a Flight Attendant for US Airways. This morning on a flight from Charlotte, NC to Phoenix, AZ I witnessed an amazing transformation not only in me but also in many of the passengers on board our flight. I was approached by our First Class flight attendant while I was...
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COMPASSION
ALAN C When I was a child our family was on welfare and not doing well. We were four children being raised by a single mother. Alan had never met us before, but ended up paying for our education and serving as a role model to me until this very day. Without his kindness and guidance it is hard to imagine that I would...
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HELPING OTHERS
THE HEART OF A CHILD I am a volunteer for The American Diabetes Association (ADA). I am on the planning committee for a one day cycling event called 'Tour de Cure'. It is sponsored by the ADA and the proceeds of this event, are used for diabetes research and program funding. While I was talking to people about our 'Tour de Cure'...
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OVERCOMING
WILLIAM R Bill is a college professor at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. He teaches, among other courses, Microbiology. As I've already had the class and been graded, and I won't have him for any other classes, there is no conflict of interest in my sharing this story. Bill is my hero for the following...
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