Philippines very own Efren Peñaflorida has been awarded the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year for bringing education to poor Filipino children through his "Kariton Klassroom."
The 28-year-old teacher from Cavite City bested nine other contenders from different countries. Peñaflorida received the award from actress Eva Mendes at the conclusion of "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" held at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood on Saturday night in the US.
According to the CNN website, Peñaflorida was selected after getting the highest number of online votes, which reached 2.75 million in seven weeks, the highest among 10 finalists.
Peñaflorida received $100,000 to continue his work with his group, Dynamic Teen Company, on top of the $25,000 he got after his name was included on the Top 10 CNN Heroes 7 weeks ago.
"Our planet is filled with heroes, young and old, rich and poor, man, woman of different colors, shapes and sizes. We are one great tapestry," Peñaflorida said in his acceptance speech before an audience of about 3,000.
No comments:
Post a Comment