Former World Vision Sponsored Child Named CNN Hero of the Year
Efren Penaflorida, a schoolteacher from Cavite, Philippines, has won this year’s CNN Hero of the Year Award.
Penaflorida received the honor for his inspiring commitment to help educate street children with his Kariton Klasrum (Classroom Cart) through the Dynamic Teen Company, a group he founded in the 1990′s.
Out of more than 9,000 nominees from across the world, Penaflorida garnered the most votes and emerged as CNN’s Hero of the Year in a special ceremony held Saturday at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
World Vision has close ties with Penaflorida, who was once sponsored through the organization’s Child Sponsorship Program. The program currently sends some 122,000 underprivileged children to school in the Philippines and hopes to help mold more heroes like Efren in the future.
“Efren is a living testimony that investing in a child’s life can have really big returns,” said Elnora Avarientos, executive director of World Vision in the Philippines. “May this serve as an encouragement for all of us, especially those who are working with children. He is proof that children can, indeed, change the world.”
As Penaflorida put it in his acceptance speech, “The hero in you is waiting to be unleashed. Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve… you are the change that you dream.”
“For us in World Vision, we are truly honored that Efren embodies the heart of our ministry. Each child transformed through the sacrificial giving of others can become a hero and start a movement of change this world desperately needs,” Avarientos added.
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.
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