Cheryl Ann is referred to as an angel in the Metrowest community. A little over ten years ago she founded "Project Just Because" in Hopkinton. She has assisted tens of thousands of families in need in the greater Metrowest communities from basic needs to holiday gifts and emergency resources. In Addition, Cheryl Ann took on within her charity "The Hopkinton Food Pantry" and all its distribution. She has no employees and depends on volunteers, friends and family to make this such a great asset to our community. In the words of our town selectman Mary Pratt "Cheryl Ann is the angel in our community that is Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny all bundled together doing good for her neighbors."

Lisa is on the New England Task Force for the American Cancer Society. She travels across New England, sharing her personal inspirational and motivating story in the fight against cancer. She trains volunteers and staff on best practices, and helps in the coordination of the 226 "Relay for Life" events across New England with fundraising, volunteer and participating recruitment. She also leads one of the recruitment sites for the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study.

Lisa touches lives every day in every way, caring about everyone who crosses her path. She gives cancer patients rides to treatments, helps them find resources to grocery shop for them and clean their home for free during treatment and goes the distance to make sure those going thru treatment get what they need. This is in addition to working 50-60 hours a week, while battling poli-neruopathy. She had a spinal cord stimulator devise implanted in February, after 10 years of severe chronic pain in her hands, arms, feet, legs, hips-all over, and yet keeps the smile going, never complains and never, ever lets them know she is hurting. She gives selflessly to all, not ever complaining about her condition-now she is simply amazing.

Lynn volunteers two nights a week at Lorraine's Soup Kitchen, which she is also on the Board of Directors. She organized a couple of "Fifty's Night" dances with raffles for the soup kitchen. She is an event chairperson for the American Cancer Relay for Life. She volunteers for Daffodil Days, the We-Can weekend and the Omar Pace Galla. Lynn has had a lot of hard times in her life, her husband had to have a liver transplant, she needs a second knee surgery and her grandson was born with Torticollis and had to go to many doctor appointments and get fitted to wear a helmet when he was an infant. In spite of all that she is always the first person to raise her hand when someone needs a volunteer. I think if anyone needs a vacation it would be Lynn, and I hope you agree.

Yvette is 60 years old with severe fibromyalgia and arthritis. She was a single mom who's two children are grown up and married. She has been a HUGE part of keeping this city clean in direct and indirect ways. She has been going to the park faithfully every morning for over 10 years and picking up the litter around the park grounds, pond, streams and fields.

Yvette also goes to the local bakery and gets bags of old bread to feed to the migrating ducks, geese, and herons and other wildlife. She belongs to the State Volunteer Park Rangers and helps with "City Beatification Day" every year. She is also involved heavily in campaigns for the improvement of the city and helps with political campaigns when and where ever she can.

Ricks was selected for his continued and unwavering work with people who are struggling in their lives due to alcohol and drug addiction. He was personally responsible for forming the first Maine chapter of "Our Father's House", a faith based recovery program. The program presently has three sober houses in Maine that provide stable and safe environments where people can continue their sobriety and continue the work of putting their lives back together. The overview of the program includes Substance Dependency, Relapse Prevention, Looking Within, Understanding Anger, Self Worth, Life Management, Personal Growth and much, much more. Rick cares deeply about every single person he comes in contact with, and he dedicates his days (and many, many nights!) to helping others regain control of their lives, their futures, and their spirituality. He is 200% dedicated to "Our Father's House" mission and continues to find ways to help those folks in need so that we can all live in a more fulfilling and productive community.

Rene founded the "Honeysuckle Foundation" to serve as support for children dealing with cancer and their families. The emotional impact of the disease is dealt with head on through counseling. They take part in many fundraisers to raise money for cancer initiatives. More importantly, the group is an active presence in the community, making sure that children dealing with the various forms of cancer know that they are being cared for.

Janice has 3 lovely daughters, works 3 days a week at a part time job, and manages to do community work. On June 14th she is planning a huge bike-a-thon to raise money for the children at St. Jude's. In addition, she is planning a Chinese Auction. She is donating her home, food and time to this worthy cause. She does other various activities in her community as well.

Eva is the president of the local ambulance squad and is the oldest living active member of that squad. She has dedicated every ounce of free time to the squad and everything else she has goes into the church too. Besides doing all of these activities, she has taken care of her ailing husband until his death a few years ago. In the meantime she is now taking care of her brother who had a stroke and is unable to take care of himself. Everyday I see this woman give everything to everybody else but take nothing for herself. She is a magnificent woman.

Nominated for his outstanding military service including a recent deployment in Afghanistan.

Nominated for her significant time and resources dedicated to the needs of children and unwed mothers.

Nominated for her tireless full-time volunteer commitment after retirement to the needs of others battling hunger, drug addiction and special needs.

Nominated for her extraordinary commitment to the Boys & Girls Club of Maryland.

Denise helps several of her neighbors (going to stores for groceries or medicine), assisting them by taking them to various senior buildings and other places they may need to go to. She does this even though she isn't feeling well due to her own disability. Even though, she's not working right now she gives what she can to many charities. Even with donating her time to neighbors she still has time to be a great Mom. Also, she collects cans and paper and plastic recyclables to recycle even though we live in an apartment. The money from collecting she gives to charity.

Having suffered the loss of a loved one to suicide, Trina wants to help others in the same situation to let them know they are not alone. She has created and continues to run a support group at her church to help suicide survivors cope. She is a contact with the Department of Social Services and the police department. Trina is also working her way through the community via speaking engagements and one-on-one sessions with suicide survivors, to bring awareness to everyone about suicide and surviving after a loved one has taken their own life.

Delta, is the most kind, sweet spirited, generous super nanny that I know. Since she was in her 20's she has always taken care of a sick relative or friend never accepting any money or recognition. She has taken in numerous grandchildren and nurtured and raised them in church. Now at the age of 62 she is helping with the great grandchildren and caring for her dying husband. She was laid off at General Tire recently and went back to school to learn a new trade. She never complains and keeps her faith and continues her church work.

Barry started the Feed the Firefighter Foundation in 1998 and since then has served over 45,000 meals to firefighters in the Triangle area. The Foundation has served these meals by the support of donations from the community. Barry has been called on at all hours of the day to provide emergency food service to hungry and tired firefights. You can go to www.feedthefirefighters.com to learn more.

Kathleen is the wife of an active-duty Army soldier, stationed on MacDill AFB, Tampa, FL. She is a wonderful mother to her new-born twins, and 7-year old son. While working full time she finds time to volunteer in my community for the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, the American Heart Association and the Florida Aquarium. Currently she is fostering four 2-week old kittens, which were put into a box out by a street-side curb for trash pickup.

Kellie is the founder of Speaking Out About Rape, Inc. (SOAR) an organization who's mission is to educate the world about rape and how it affects the life of a victim and his or her loved ones.

As Director of SOAR, Kellie has had the opportunity to talk about her rape, but more importantly, about her survival. She has made an impact on hundreds of thousands of university students, law enforcement officers and rape survivors. She has become a victims' rights activist, working tirelessly to influence policy and raise social awareness concerning issues of sexual violence.

Her policy work includes co-authoring the Florida Sexual Predator Prosecution Act of 2000, contributing to the development of a national protocol on sexual assault forensic exams for the Office on Violence Against Women, and participating in a White House Press Conference announcing the President's DNA Initiative.

Patti has spent her entire adult life volunteering. She was a big sister with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, She went to teachers meetings as her little sister's didn't speak English well. Patti was also the first female President of the volunteer group that organized monthly activities for Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Patti has been an active part of the Sunday School at her church. She loves volunteer work and believes that if people who have money give money and people who don't give time, the world truly would be a better place.

Bill works tirelessly to deliver swimming lessons to special needs children. No matter how involved or severe the child may be, he will never turn them down. He believes every child should have the opportunity to experience the water in a positive manner, no matter what their limitations may be.

Bill acknowledges the children for their abilities, not their disabilities. The happiness that he brings to their lives is priceless. Bill loves the challenge of teaching the children with special needs how to swim and be safe around the water.

Don is from Shreveport, Louisiana, and he is a force of nature as powerful as hurricane Katrina itself. He perhaps singlehandedly did more to help Louisiana and the gulf states dig out from Katrina's aftermath than any one person, and that's a lot to say. Ask him about his work with the American Red Cross and you will be delighted by his southern charm, his quick wit, and his infectious enthusiasm. In fact, these were all powerful tools in his arsenal that helped him get trucks, 51 of them, forklifts, a 10,000 lb winch, an industrial capacity battery charger, office equipment, and much, much more to help in the clean-up effort. He worked relentlessly and with stunning creativity to get companies from all across the country to pitch in and help in a big way and at no cost. Shreveport was one of the least equipped Red Cross facilities in the country before Katrina. It now leads the nation, and they have Don to thank for it. Don has worked most of his life in sales and finance. His wife Renae will be joining him on the cruise, and she is a doctor of pharmacology. They have two adult daughters, Robin and Karen.

Bill has been an audio-visual guy most of his life, and he used to work for the United Nations. In one case years ago, Bill's services were needed to help resolve a child abduction case, and the job brought him to central Virginia. The case was resolved happily, and Bill was captivated by the state. He moved to Fredericksburg and later became the host of a evening music program on WBQC that was subsequently moved to mid-days. Bill's activities in the community are too numerous to cite. Among other things, he provides charitable AV services for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, three different ones actually; he does volunteer work for the National Leukemia Society and the local homeless shelter; and every month, he features a new child on WBQB's website and his radio programs. Each child is in foster care looking for a permanent home. He has helped numerous children find their way out of the foster care system and into new and loving homes. His next project? Bill will be leaving radio shortly to found the American Arts Institute, a college for the Virginia Center for Performing Arts. Bill's fiancé, Jane, will join him on the cruise. Jane is an animal lover and horse owner who works part time for a veterinarian. She has also owned and operated a carpet cleaning business for the past fifteen years.

Jim is a greens-keeper for a golf course in northern California, and that's only proper since he's an avid gardener as well. Jim grew up in the Midwest (Wisconsin and Iowa) but moved west in his late teens and has been in California ever since. He has a 17 year old son, Kenan, whose high school history teacher nominated Jim for this award because of the many hours he and his wife Bonnie donate to their charter high school. Given recent budget cuts, the high school asks many parents to donate about five hours a month to help out with the grounds, do custodial work, and pitch in with whatever is needed. Jim and Bonnie have donated about three times that for the past several years. They help with fund-raising for the school, managed a Swing Dance event, and always answer the call when the school needs a hand. Jim is also active with Habitat for Humanity, a charity close to Cabot's heart. Bonnie is a speech therapist for a local grade school and will be joining Jim on the cruise.

Holly is appropriately named, and gardening is her game. Holly founded The Dinner Garden last year, a charitable organization that sends out packages of seeds to anybody who asks. In fact, they have sent out 17,000 packages so far. The point is severalfold: grow your own healthy food; save money; reduce hunger; and get closer to the land. Holly gets donations via FaceBook and Twitter, and this covers the cost of postage, their biggest expense. She has partnered with various seed companies who now provide the seed packages at no cost. Her organization has helped thousands, and they ask nothing in return. Everything they do is gratis. As Holly says: "The solution to hunger is in your own back yard." On top of that, Holly and her husband adopted and raise two special needs children. The older one, Sam, recently entered the Army. Their daughter Jacqui is still in high school. Holly's brother, Nick, will be joining her on the cruise. Nick is a professional musician.

Phillip hails from Long Island but has lived in Massachusetts for many years now. By profession, he is an information technology and software guy. But he has another talent as well. Phil is an expert "reader;" he reads for the blind and is currently taking a course to do "voice over" work for commercials, television, story narration, and the like. He is also busy working most of his spare time for "People Making a Difference." This is a local charitable organization out of Allston, Mass that provides community services in various areas of the state. Phil works in soup kitchens cleaning and serving; he helps maintain nature trails in the area by installing markers, cleaning debris, and placing wood chips where needed; and he helps out at the Perkins School for the Blind where he and his assistants take care of the blind children while their parents attend conferences to learn how to better handle their children's disabilities. Phil is also an enthusiastic Karaoke singer. Nudge him a little, and he may give you a tune over dinner.

Abner is the senior pastor at the East Side Tabernacle Church in the lower east side of Manhattan. To say this is a tough neighborhood is to understate matters. Abner's church is non-denominational, which in this case means their goal is as much to uplift community pride and provide community outreach as it is to engage in spiritual matters. Pastor Rosario deals every day with single parents, pregnant teens, local gangs, and the homeless and hopeless. In fact, he recently worked with one of his congregants and set up a local basketball league, a league where members of rival gangs often find themselves on the same team. Rival gang members often come by looking to start trouble, but the league continues and one by one, youth by youth, the church and its congregants are turning things around. The church and its congregants are bringing hope back to a community trying to find its way out of economic poverty and a life of drugs and crime. Abner was not always a pastor. In fact, he graduated from Parsons School of Design, ran his own business for seven years, and was a fashion designer with his own line of clothing. He knew his calling was elsewhere, however, and for the past eleven years he has been the senior pastor at the tabernacle. Abner's wife Catherine works side by side with him in the church, and she is as active as he in working in the community. Catherine will join Abner on the cruise.

Tom had a big scare recently when his five year old son Brody caught the swine flu. The infection spread to his lungs, and his condition was life threatening. The story ends happily, but the situation was touch and go for a period of time. Tom's other son Cole (3) escaped the peril. He can tell you more about the swine flu than he ever wanted to know. While Tom is a practicing attorney specializing in family law, his first love is Big Brothers and Sisters. He is Vice President of the Board and commits dozens of hours each month bringing hope and help to broken homes and families in desperate need. He raises funds, provides legal support, and manages the annual "bowling" fundraiser. He also provides legal service for numerous "clients" that don't have the resources to pay him. Tom is an avid, almost professional photographer who shoots portraits, weddings, and special events on the side. His friend, Melissa, nominated him for this award and will be joining him on the trip. Melissa is a civil servant who works with the Parks Department.