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AC360° Anchor

At around 9:30 each night, relief comes in the form of Jorge Munoz's white pickup truck, filled with hot food, coffee and hot chocolate.

Jorge Munoz estimates he has served more than 70,000 free meals since 2004.

CNN Heroes

Every day, unemployed men gather under the elevated 7 train in Jackson Heights, Queens. Many of them are homeless. All of them are hungry.

At around 9:30 each night, relief comes in the form of Jorge Munoz's white pickup truck, filled with hot food, coffee and hot chocolate.

The men eagerly accept containers of chicken and rice from Munoz, devouring the food on the spot. Quiet gratitude radiates from the crowd.

For many, this is their only hot meal of the day; for some, it's the first food they've eaten since last night. Vote now for the CNN Hero of the Year

"I thank God for touching that man's heart," says Eduardo, one of the regulars.

Learn more about Jorge Munoz's organization here...

CNN Heroes

Roy Foster's facility, Stand Down House, has helped about 900 male veterans since 2000.

Following a faint trail through a dense patch of woods in Florida's Palm Beach County, Roy Foster is a man on a mission.

Foster, 53, is searching for homeless veterans - and he knows where to look.

Whether in a vacant lot behind a supermarket or a small clearing off the highway, homeless vets aren't that hard to find: One in three homeless adults has served in the military, and more than 150,000 veterans nationwide are homeless on any given night, according to the Veterans Administration.

Working with the sheriff's homeless outreach unit, Foster finds vets camped in tents or makeshift lean-tos, where he delivers a message: There's help for you if you want it.

"For our heroes to be living in [these] conditions, it's totally unacceptable," said Foster.

Since 2000, approximately 900 veterans have found life-changing help at Foster's facility, Stand Down House. Named for the military command that gives troops time to rest after arduous duty, the program provides homeless male vets food, shelter and a safe place to recover, as well as the tools to conquer their personal problems.

Find out more about Foster’s organization.

Read More...

At around 9:30 each night, relief comes in the form of Jorge Munoz's white pickup truck, filled with hot food, coffee and hot chocolate.

Jorge Munoz estimates he has served more than 70,000 free meals since 2004.

CNN Heroes

Every day, unemployed men gather under the elevated 7 train in Jackson Heights, Queens. Many of them are homeless. All of them are hungry.

At around 9:30 each night, relief comes in the form of Jorge Munoz's white pickup truck, filled with hot food, coffee and hot chocolate.

The men eagerly accept containers of chicken and rice from Munoz, devouring the food on the spot. Quiet gratitude radiates from the crowd.

For many, this is their only hot meal of the day; for some, it's the first food they've eaten since last night. Vote now for the CNN Hero of the Year

"I thank God for touching that man's heart," says Eduardo, one of the regulars.

Learn more about Jorge Munoz's organization here...

CNN Heroes

CNN Heroes

CNN Heroes

CNN Heroes

Editor’s Note: Aaron Jackson was a 2007 CNN Hero who co-founded the nonprofit Planting Peace. Among its various projects, the group provides deworming treatment and education to impoverished communities in Haiti and around the world.

Aaron Jackson (back row, center) says his organization is able to deworm 250 children for less than the cost of a pack of cigarettes.

Aaron Jackson
Founder and President, Planting Peace
2007 CNN Hero

Gandhi once said, "When fighting for a just cause people tend to pop up."

As founder and president of Planting Peace, I see this every day in my quest to bring a little peace to the world. When Planting Peace needs someone or something for our cause, people just seem to “'pop up” and reach out to help. In November of 2007, it wasn't just a single person that popped up, but rather, many people – people watching CNN worldwide.

After CNN named me a CNN Hero and aired the CNN Hero documentary on my quest to treat the world of intestinal parasites through Planting Peace, thousands of people responded with open arms and generous hearts. In those first few days, I received literally thousands of letters, emails and phone calls offering monetary donations and a range of services. The response was truly overwhelming.

After seeing my CNN Hero story on the CNN.com, Rainn Wilson, aka Dwight Schrute of the hit television show, ‘The Office,’ contacted me via email. Although his work was previously unknown to me, he and I have since become good friends, and he has joined me in bringing awareness to the need of deworming children in countries in which starvation is so prevalent.

A week after the initial airing of the CNN Hero documentary, I was also a featured guest on Anderson Cooper 360°. Once again, the response by people across the world was overwhelming.

Through the assistance and donations of all of those who “popped up” after viewing the CNN Hero profile or reading my story on CNN.com, Planting Peace has developed national deworming programs aiding over a million people in Sudan and the Dominican Republic.

We have also reached our goal in being able to purchase enough deworming medication to reach all 3.2 million children in Haiti, a program we are deploying this month. Experience has shown that deworming can dramatically reduce malnutrition. One study in Zanzibar found that antiparasite treatment can reduce children’s malnutrition by 62 percent and reduce anemia by 59 percent. We hope to achieve the same great results in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

CNN Heroes

CNN Heroes

Téa Leoni suggests that trick-or-treaters ask for UNICEF donations along with candy

Téa Leoni
Special to CNN

Editor's note: Téa Leoni is a U.S. Fund for UNICEF Ambassador. Her grandmother, Helenka Pantaleoni, founded the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Leoni was a member of the 2007 Blue Ribbon panel for CNN Heroes.

I grew up under the impression that I was the best trick-or-treater in the whole wide world, because my grandmother invented it!

The whole thing was her idea! My grandmother and her friend UNICEF started it way back when she was born in the early 1500s. I thought UNICEF must be a pretty cool lady if she was hanging out with my grandmother.

Occasionally I'll ask people if they know about UNICEF, and sometimes they don't. But if I then mention the little orange Trick-or-Treat boxes on Halloween, suddenly everyone knows UNICEF.

We grew up carrying those Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF boxes on Halloween night, and now our kids do. These days, the candy bags may be fancier than pillowcases, and the costumes may come from the store, but the orange boxes remain the same.

Keep Reading...

Deepak Chopra
Special to CNN

Editor's note: Deepak Chopra is a medical doctor, celebrity lecturer and author of more than 40 books on spirituality and mind-body medicine. He is best-known for his book "Ageless Body, Timeless Mind." Chopra was a Blue Ribbon Panel member who helped select the Top 10 CNN Heroes in 2007 and 2008.

Charity has always been a part of every spiritual tradition, and learning to give is an essential part of everyone's inner growth. However, charity has a dirty little secret that few of us want to face. It can fail or backfire. Our gifts can be squandered. A dollar given with compassion may wind up lining the pockets of someone who doesn't deserve it.

It's a healthy sign that the public has become more aware of these drawbacks. Yet we have to be careful to ward off cynicism. To stop giving would be the wrong choice.

Here's how I empower my own giving while at the same time bringing the compassionate gift closer to the right receiver.

First of all, fuel an aspiration. The most hopeless people in the world aren't the poorest; they're the ones who can never fulfill even a tiny dream. As a group, women are the largest population of the helpless, so I look to help them any way I can.

Keep Reading...

CNN Heroes

CNN Heroes