Tell Us About Your Unsung Heroes

What makes a hero? To kids, it might be a comic book character with a cape; to students, it might be that special teacher who imparts a lesson that inspires them to live their dreams. Or it could be a first responder who makes a daring rescue in the line of duty.

There are countless untold stories about people who walk among us who are working to change the world, one small act at a time. These persons are our unsung heroes.

On Nov. 11, Fordham University is shining the spotlight on ordinary people doing extraordinary things when it hosts the Opus Prize 2010 on the Rose Hill campus. The Prize recognizes faith-based humanitarian leaders from all around the world who tackle some of the most persistent global problems and who, in the process, show a deep commitment to service and inspiring social entrepreneurship.

Past recipients of the award may not be household names, but they are larger than life in the eyes of those that they serve. Recipients include:

-- Dr. Zilda Arns Neumann, a pediatrician who founded an innovative public health program in Brazil that taps 265,000 volunteers to help raise poor children with dignity;

--Aïcha Ech Channa, founder of Morocco’s Association Solidarité Féminine, which helps unmarried women with children gain the skills needed to support themselves; and

-- Brother Stan Goetschalckx, whose AHADI International Institute in Tanzania helps refugees from the war-torn nations of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi earn their high school diplomas.

As a private and independent foundation, the Opus Prize Foundation has already chosen its nominees for this year’s award, to be announced at Keating Hall on Nov. 11.

However, we would like to invite faculty, administrators, students, alumni and other members of the Fordham community to share with us your stories of the unsung heroes in your own lives.

Please post an entry here on our blog, via email or a comment on Facebook about that special person whom you feel has worked large or small to empower the disenfranchised, bring opportunity to the poorest, and inspire others toward lives of service.

Entries will be shared with the Fordham community on Nov. 9 through Fordham’s SPOTLIGHT daily calendar, and will be posted on the News and Media Relations blog.

Don’t forget. No act of service is without merit.

And don’t forget to attend the Opus Awards on the Fordham campus on Nov. 11. Go to www.fordham.edu/opusprize to RSVP.