Steven Webb – First Place Winner

Setting Things Right for the Kids
When a hurricane hits, Steven Webb, an arborist, packs up his truck and heads out to help people get trees off their roofs and property, clearing the way for rebuilding. For Steven, a hurricane can mean weeks—even months—of camping out in the storm-ravaged region, eating canned food and relying on a generator. This was the situation after Hurricane Ike plowed through Texas in 2008. While there with his brother and “ground man,” Eric, he met a woman that he knew he needed to help.

Steven and his wife, Megan, had decided to adopt a dog that had been left homeless by the storm. That’s how they met Robin; she had a Shih Tzu pup that needed a family. When Steven first talked to Robin about adopting the dog, this first-grade teacher was in the depths of despair, and couldn’t help crying on the phone. She told Steven that she had just been allowed back into the school and that her classroom, along with the library, had been destroyed by the hurricane.

When Steven actually saw the school, he was taken aback at the devastation. “I know how important school and their teachers are to my kids,” he says. “And I asked myself, ‘What are these kids going to do?’ I knew we needed to do anything we could to get them back to normal sooner.”

That’s when Steven and Megan started calling businesses large and small to solicit donations to help rebuild the classroom and library and get them properly outfitted. The charity they set up, Classrooms for Kids, has gotten nearly $50,000 in money and supplies to put the situation right.

Steven says that he “got an idea that just kept building and building.” For Megan, it’s not that surprising that her husband spearheaded this effort. “He’s just amazing,” she says. “Unlike most people, he cares more about others than himself—and always puts them first.”

Gena Dalton – Runner-Up

Putting Family First
“The number one thing in her life is her family.” This is how Sherry Gibbs describes her daughter, Gena Dalton, 27. “She believes her mission is to take care of them.” That proved to be the case when Gena’s Great Uncle William was suddenly widowed two years ago.

Gena was at her Great Aunt Jewel’s side as she lay in the hospital dying. It was then that she promised to watch over “Uncle Wibby.” After Jewel’s death, William’s grief was compounded by the reality of his tough financial situation. While his wife did have a life insurance policy, it was only enough to cover her funeral expenses. That left William with an $800-a-month Social Security check as his sole source of income. After paying for medication and doctors’ visits, there was little money left, even for food.

Gena stepped in and told her uncle to “keep on like you’re doing, and I’ll help you and make sure you don’t have to worry about anything.” That meant first and foremost giving him money so he could eat and pay his utilities. Then she channeled her energy into being her uncle’s advocate. Since Jewel had always taken care of the finances, Gena helped him make sense of his bills and navigate the Social Security system.

Over the past two years, she has managed to greatly reduce the money William spends on medicine, ensuring that he has enough left for his living expenses. And despite being recently married and nurturing a budding career as a chemist at NASA, Gena stops over several times a week to keep her uncle company. “Gena’s amazing,” says her mom. “She’s more caring than anyone I’ve ever met.”

Bennie Harris – Runner-Up

Here to Give—and Give Back
There was a hurricane and flooding, then fire. It sounds like the beginning of a story of biblical proportions. And that may be just how it felt for Bennie Harris III. When Hurricane Katrina wreaked its devastation on New Orleans in 2005, Bennie had 62 years of his life—clothes, photos, furniture, car and a priceless blues and jazz record collection—wiped off the face of the earth, along with the home that he and his wife had just built for their retirement.

But his sister, Reba Labat, says that nothing can keep Bennie down. Once he was able, Bennie rebuilt his home, only to see it destroyed by a fire shortly before he was due to move back in. Instead of lamenting his loss, he chose to see it as a sign that he should stay in his new—and what he had considered temporary—hometown, Atlanta. He was determined “to keep my family connection going” with his two daughters as well as a host of other relatives who live there. So he set up house with his wife, his ailing Aunt Myrtle, whom he was caring for, his daughter and granddaughter in the suburbs.

As an English and history teacher, Bennie had shepherded countless inner-city kids through the rough terrain of high school and helped many go on to college. Now retired and in his adopted hometown, he was determined to help more young people. He joined his local Kiwanis club, became its president and has put the force of his nature behind “working hard for various foundations for kids.”

“He always tries to help those in need,” says his sister, “because he says that he’s still here for something. … It’s like my mother always said, ‘We’re here to give and to give back.’” And that’s exactly what Bennie continues to do.

Brian Lucas – Runner-Up

Offering Loving Care
When Emily Lucas’ best friend, Emmanuelle, moved from across the street to Macon, Ga., Emily was determined to keep the friendship alive by visiting her often. It was on one of those trips that she met Brian—or, as Brian states, that he first saw her “floating” toward him (albeit on Rollerblades) at a Halloween party, dressed as an angel.

Although they were still teenagers, they both felt the instant connection and carried on a long-distance relationship. Once he graduated from high school, Brian left everything behind: a college scholarship, friends and family to be with Emily. But it wasn’t as simple as young love blossoming. Instead, Brian moved to North Carolina to help Emily and her mother with a difficult and heartbreaking task: caring for “Pop,” Emily’s grandfather, whose health—and mind—were quickly failing him.

As Pop went from being ambulatory to being bedridden and needing constant care, Brian was there to do the heavy lifting—literally and figuratively. Helping Emily and her mom deal with Pop’s dementia and cancer was, “just what needed to be done,” says Brian. “I saw that it was something I could do and I did it. And for as much as I’ve done for them, it can’t compare with what they’ve done for me.”

Few young men would put their lives on hold to help someone else out, but not Brian. “He knew I needed help, and that no one else in my family was going to do it,” says Emily. “Taking care of Pop until his death was difficult and stressful, but shuffling him into a nursing home was never an option.”

Brian and Emily are now husband and wife and have started a new life together, cemented by their love for each other and their duty to the ones they love.

Beckie Share – Runner-Up

Giving of Your Heart
Beckie Share was focused on entering law school after graduation from Florida State University, but fate had other things in store for her. As her mother, Jennie Friedlander, says, “Her new career chose her.”

Beckie was finishing up her degree in elementary education as the first step in her career plans to practice juvenile law. But her internship at a grade school for underprivileged kids derailed her law school plans. While working there, she saw that teaching was her true calling, so she said yes to a full-time position as a second-grade teacher at the school. According to her mom, Beckie made the switch because “she believes in her heart that she can make a difference and she thinks that kids need someone in a positive, caring role.”

Her concern for her students has not been limited to the classroom. Last fall, Beckie found out that a former student had a brain aneurism. During the previous school year, she had become close to her student and his family, so when this tragedy struck, Beckie went into action.

Beckie visited her former pupil to give him encouragement on his difficult journey, and she extended a helping hand to his parents. When they needed to make the 150-mile journey from Tallahassee to Gainesville for their son’s surgery, Beckie watched his younger sister so his parents could focus on his care. According to Beckie, “I couldn’t do anything for them financially or stop what was happening, so this was my way of doing what I could for their family.” Thankfully the young student is now back at school and doing well.

Most people would be unwilling to leave behind the prospect of lucrative law career to teach underprivileged children, but that’s what makes Beckie, now 25, “remarkable,” says her mom. “Anyone can give money, but to give of your heart is what counts.”