Pushcart educator and UPOU student named CNN Hero of the Year (2009)
Efren Peñaflorida, a secondary educator and graduate student of the UP Open University (Master of Public Management), who started a “pushcast classroom” in the Philippines, has been named the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper revealed Peñaflorida’s selection at the conclusion of the third-annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Saturday night, November 21, 2009.
Peñaflorida, received $100,000 (on top of the $25,000 he received for being a part of the Top 10 CNN Heroes) to continue his work with the Dynamic Teen Company, was selected after seven weeks of online voting at CNN.com. The said online poll has gathered 2.75 million votes from all over the world.
“So to each and every person inside this theater and for those who are watching at home, the hero in you is waiting to be unleashed. Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve. As I always tell to my co-volunteers … you are the change that you dream, as I am the change that I dream, and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be,” Peñaflorida said in his acceptance speech.
