[StBernard] CNN Heroes

[Westley Annis]

“CNN Heroes” and St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro honor

St. Bernard Project Co-Founder Liz McCartney

 

CNN Heroes and St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro Jr. recently
honored Liz McCartney, Co-Founder of the St. Bernard Project, and helped
dedicate a home that was recently renovated by the St. Bernard Parish
Project.  The event was in anticipation of “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute”
later this month that will spotlight ordinary citizens accomplishing
extraordinary deeds. McCartney was named one of ten CNN HEROES honorees last
month, out of nearly 4,000 nominations from 75 countries.

 

A Blue Ribbon Panel made up of distinguished humanitarians and leaders,
including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall and Earvin “Magic” Johnson,
selected Liz McCartney for her work to help rebuild St. Bernard Parish in
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She will be awarded $25,000 - and is
eligible for the $100,000 prize that will be bestowed upon the CNN HERO OF
THE YEAR later this month. 

 

“It’s not hard to see why Liz McCartney was chosen for this honor.  Her
energy and generosity are helping to restore lives here in St. Bernard
Parish.  She’s an inspiration to so many.  I know I speak for our entire
community when I say that I am proud to recognize and celebrate Liz’s
success,” Taffaro said.

 

Liz McCartney traveled from her home in Washington to New Orleans after
Hurricane Katrina to volunteer with the clean-up efforts.  She and her
boyfriend, Zack Rosenburg, were so deeply impacted by the devastation they
saw in St. Bernard Parish, a community whose 67,000 residents almost all
lost their homes, that they left Washington in June 2006 and moved to St.
Bernard.  Neither knew anything about construction, but both felt that they
could use their experience raising money and organizing volunteers to help
with the rebuilding efforts. Within months, McCartney and Rosenburg opened
the nonprofit St. Bernard Project, which focuses on helping those most in
need -- senior citizens, the disabled and families with children. 

Local residents, touched by the couple's leap of faith, taught them basic
construction. To date, more than 9,000 volunteers have worked with the St.
Bernard Project, enabling more than 150 families to move back into their
homes.

 

"Once you get one family back, other families are willing to come back as
well," said McCartney, who has no plans to slow down anytime soon. "We're
here until we work ourselves out of a job.”  

 

This year’s Top 10 CNN Heroes, as selected by the Blue Ribbon Panel, were
unveiled by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper on CNN’s American Morning last month.
The public were able to select the “CNN Hero of the Year” via voting at the
CNN Heroes site at www.CNN.com/Heroes through Nov. 19.  At the November
gala, CNN will honor the 10 heroes and reveal the CNN Hero of the Year. 

 

Hosted by Anderson Cooper from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CNN HEROES:
AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE will air globally on CNN, CNN International and CNN en
Español on Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).

 

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner
Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach
extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private
place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world;
CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United
States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service;
and strategic international partnerships within both television and the
digital media.

 

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