It’s that time of year again.
A time when we honor inspiring Georgians who remind us all that acts of kindness are never random. They’ve identified problems and have come up with extraordinary solutions. Like all of us, they’ve struggled with hard times, but they’ve pushed through – and helped others along the way.
They do all of this to make Georgia a better place to live.
These are Everyday Heroes.
This year, we’re recognizing 48 Georgians who have done their small part to make a big difference in their communities across the state.
Credit: Ella Kroll
Credit: Ella Kroll
Click or tap here to check out their stories at Everyday Heroes 2024.
You’ll meet Michael Meaders.
Meaders runs a peanut and produce stand in White County. When he heard about the growing student lunch debt, he was determined to make sure no child goes hungry. He started collecting donations at his stand and has given nearly $16,000 to local schools.
Credit: Nichole Maxwell
Credit: Nichole Maxwell
You’ll learn about Chris and Ty Woods.
The Smyrna couple have an immense passion for the arts. When many schools cut back on arts funding, they took a creative approach, opening up their two-bedroom apartment to provide a safe space for students to learn about acting, singing and music production each Friday night.
Credit: Rough Draft Atlanta
Credit: Rough Draft Atlanta
You’ll meet Mady Cohen.
After a classmate died of a drug overdose, Cohen felt it was time to do something other than mourn. It was time to act. She started raising money to make opioid-reversing Narcan available in every public area and classroom at her school. She not only reached her goal, she doubled it. And she’s determined to help other schools in Georgia.
Credit: Dan Carmody
Credit: Dan Carmody
You might have seen – or played – one of Malek Jandali’s pianos.
There are 500 of them around metro Atlanta. Jandali is a classical composer, and he’s on a mission to bring symphony to the streets. His colorful pianos can be found at schools, parks, MARTA stations and even Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
With the holiday season here, we feel as if it’s the perfect time to share these incredible stories with you.
Credit: Charmain Brackett
Credit: Charmain Brackett
Stories like Christine Newby’s.
Newby leads a team of volunteers in Augusta who make handcrafted blankets for children in need. From young mothers to people in their 90s, the team meets monthly to sew pieces of comfort. Together, they have donated more than 6,000 blankets throughout Georgia.
Credit: Deborah Crawford
Credit: Deborah Crawford
And there’s Clarenton “Nicky” Crawford.
Crawford has devoted his golden years to helping unhoused Atlantans. He created a nonprofit that provides showers, restrooms, meals and much more to the city’s growing unhoused population. You can find him and his team parked outside Grady hospital in a small school bus that he converted into a laundromat on wheels.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
You’ll also meet Lex Stolle.
A cancer survivor, Lex wants to see young cancer patients have the same chance at life that he’s had. Outside of hosting a radio show where he shares stories on patients at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, he’s been raising money for cancer research. The high school freshman is close to raising $11,000 this year.
Our annual Everyday Heroes project is part of a special installment of Inspire Atlanta — an initiative that we began back in 2019 to profile extraordinary Georgians. Each week, we shine a spotlight on a person who makes Atlanta a better place in which to live.
While we recognize that a big part of our journalistic mission is to bring to light wrongdoings and to hold our public officials accountable, we also understand the importance of celebrating our region’s moments, milestones and people.
And we couldn’t do this alone. Many of our partners contributed to this ambitious project to help us tell stories that may have otherwise gone untold.
This year, we collaborated with 12 partners: ArtsATL, Rough Draft Atlanta, Gwinnett Daily Post, The Reckoning, Capital B Atlanta, Georgia Asian Times, The Telegraph, Ledger-Enquirer, Augusta Good News, 285 South, as well as student journalists with the University of Georgia and Kennesaw State University.
We hope you enjoy this year’s collection of uplifting stories.
We hope it inspires you this holiday season and encourages you to get to know your neighbors.
And we hope it sparks new ideas on how you can make Georgia a better home for us all.
Who knows? You might even be on our list next year.
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