For months, CNN has been sharing amazing stories about everyday people doing remarkable things to make the world a better place.
On Thursday during the 8 a.m. ET hour of CNN’s “New Day,” Anderson Cooper will reveal which of these CNN Heroes will be among this year’s Top 10 CNN Heroes.
Each will receive $10,000 and be honored at “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,” a globally broadcast event that airs December 6.
Immediately after Thursday’s announcement, you can vote for the Top 10 Hero who inspires you most at CNNHeroes.com. Voting ends November 15. The Top 10 Hero with the most votes will receive an additional $100,000 for their cause and they’ll be named CNN Hero of the Year.
Last year’s Hero of the Year, Pen Farthing, started a nonprofit that reunites soldiers with stray animals they took in during combat.
Farthing knows firsthand the bond that can form between a soldier and a dog. In 2006, while on patrol in the Afghanistan town of Nowzad, Farthing and his troops encountered a dogfight. “We broke up that dogfight not realizing that one of those dogs was actually going to adopt me,” said Farthing. The dog followed Farthing back to base. They became friends, and Farthing named him Nowzad, after the town where he found the dog.
But getting his pet back to Britain proved to be a difficult process.
“I know that the dog I looked after was my saving grace from the stress of conflict,” Farthing said. “To be able to get that animal home … it closes the loop.” That was the genesis of Farthing’s nonprofit, Nowzad Dogs, which has reunited hundreds of soldiers with the stray dogs and cats they rescued while serving in war zones.
Thursday’s announcement will offer an opportunity to showcase 10 more stories, which will have the power to inspire countless people around the world.
This is the ninth year CNN has conducted its annual search for CNN Heroes. In those years, the campaign has profiled more than 200 people on CNN and CNN.com.
This year’s tribute show will again be held in New York and hosted by Cooper at the American Museum of Natural History.
Click here to see all the extraordinary Heroes who have been featured this year.