Click image to see Linda Atkins and the children of Inquiring Minds Learning Center in Atco, NJ.

I would like to nominate a local day care center to your "Hero's"
segment. My children attend Inquiring Minds Learning Center in Atco, NJ.
They are a small independently owned day care facility with a GREAT BIG
HEART. Recently they had a mini march for Cystic Fibrosis, wherein the
children collected monetary donations in the name of a local high school
kid who is suffering with this disease and had a mini march around the
center yesterday. The high school kid was there and they talked about
his disability and he walked with them. It was a touching event. The
little daycare raised about $1600.00 and did more than that, they raised
awareness in the community.

I think the daycare center director, Linda Atkins, as well as her staff
and all of the children deserve recognition for the wonderful, caring
and selfless work they put into this very worthy cause.

Thanks so much Marc for taking the time to recognize them and all of the
Hero's you shout out to. This is one of the things that make SOJO so
special to us South Jerseyites.

Sincerely,
Dawn

Paula tells the story of her daughter Robin's (above) heroic efforts:

On Tuesday, February 12, 2008, Robin, who is a registered nurse, was driving to her Cherry Hill home from work in the early evening on 295 North, during the freezing rain/sleet storm.  Ahead of her an SUV slid off the roadway down into an embankment and rolled over onto its roof.  Robin stopped her car, put her hazard flashers on and went down into the embankment to help.  There was a family, mom, dad and two small children literally hanging upside down!  Robin helped to remove the children from the vehicle through the back hatch, as well as the parents.  In spite of the bitter cold, freezing rain and obvious danger of just getting out of the car so close to traffic whizzing by in inclement weather, Robin, along with a few other anonymous heroes, remained with the stunned family until rescue help arrived.  Thankfully, all were uninjured.  I am very proud of my daughter and also commend the others who stopped to help.  Robin does not fell like a hero, but to me she certainly is! -Paula

Click here for more info .

The pre-K thru 8th grade kids, and faculty, at  Crest Memorial School, who launched a project last week to collect as many shoes as they could to help the civilian men, women and children of Iraq http://www.inform.com/Iraq:  they call it  "Get a clue, donate a shoe...or two!"

To help them out, bring any shoes that "still have some good wear in them" to the school thru Feb. 14th:  9100 Pacific Ave in Wildwood Crest.

Read more about this fantastic cause click here.

Williamstown's Own Jasmine Lawrence lost all of her hair at age 11 after a bad relaxing perm. "It got to the point where I only had hair on the top of my head, so I was braiding it down to cover up this area where I had no hair," she says. "It really changed my life and the way I reacted to other people looking at me and staring."

Jasmine vowed to never use harsh chemicals on her hair again and started researching how to create her own all-natural hair products. In less than a year, Jasmine found the perfect mixture of hair products.

After attending a camp for young entrepreneurs, Jasmine had another big idea - to start her own business. She found ingredients and learned how to import them all on the Internet!

Now, at age 16, Jasmine is CEO and founder of Eden Body Works at http://www.edenbodyworks.com/StoreFront.bok, named for the Garden of Eden where everything was pure and natural. Beginning next month, Eden's Peppermint and Tea Tree hair care collection will begin to appear in Wal-Marts Nationwide!

Brigantine Elementary School students are some of the fittest in South Jersey, thanks to the school’s Get Yourself Moving (G.Y.M.) Program, addressing the problem of childhood obesity.  Brigantine Elementary School has won numerous awards over the last two years for their childhood obesity efforts.
 
The G.Y.M. program is made up of 3 subgroups:
Morning Fitness Program is offered from November through April and takes place in the school gym, four days a week from 8:30-9:00 am. (before school starts).  During this time, students in grades K-4 get plenty of exercise through activities such as hockey, soccer, relays, obstacle courses, skill stations and other fun games.

Behavior Modification Program - Takes the place of the traditional Lunch Detention.  Students who are given a detention slip by the Principal for inappropriate behavior are sent to the gym, instead of recess, and meet with the Physical Education Teacher for 20 minutes.  During this time the student talks about what happened and then write about the incident.  This ensures students take accountability for their actions along with providing corrective solutions.  Students then have the choice to either write a three paragraph essay or exercise.  The students usually choose to exercise for the remainder of their detention.
 
The Recess Mileage Program - Encourages children to run or walk during recess to earn shoe tokens for miles completed.  All students do at least 1-2 laps a day on the school’s 1/5 mile track.  By the end of the week they have completed 1-2 miles.  Student Council members in each class are responsible for giving out the tokens to deserving students at the end of each week.  When students are unable to go outside for recess on bad weather days, they go to the gym and exercise with the Physical Education Teacher, Special Area Teachers and Aides doing structured large group activities.

Burgess “Butch” Hamer from the Hamer School Of Karate has a Christmas goal: a bicycle & helmet for every child. The retired Middle Township police officer & school resource officer will gift the bikes to 110 needy children with the help of 40 volunteers  during a Christmas party in early December. Butch has seen two sides of Christmas - the outpouring of charity and goodwill and the unbelievable greed when several thousand dollars worth of toys he bought for charity were stolen from a storage unit. Every toy was replaced.  "It was so overwhelming, it brought tears to my eyes," Hamer said. "When that happened to us and the toys were stolen, it just snowballed The idea for the bicycles this year actually started last year when a friend of Hamer brought 15 bicycles to the Christmas party. "We're dealing with 100 kids, and we had no alternative but to raffle them off," he said. "And these young kids, they didn't realize why they didn't get a bike." To help a Cape May County kid get a new bicycle for the holidays, call Butch at 609-465-5618 or Jeanne at 609-972-7405

Heather is truly one of the kindest and dearest souls I have ever met. She has such a heart for others, especially for children, and has been a tireless advocate for children who face life-threatening medical conditions.

A Cabrini College graduate and former captain of the Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders, Heather and her husband Tom are advocates for children, serving as Wish Grantors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In this role, Heather is specially trained to be one of the people that actually presents the child’s wish to them by delivering the news in person that their wish is going to be granted. She and her husband are also contributors and volunteers for Starlight Starbright, Junior Achievement, and Children\'s Miracle Network.  

Heather promotes her platform, "Project GIVE", which focuses on enhancing the lives of children suffering with life-threatening medical conditions. In the battle against her own medical condition, Lupus, Heather has taken a proactive role as a Lupus Foundation of South Jersey executive board member, donating over $50,000 in annual proceeds for Lupus research.  In the past two years, Heather has raised more than $40,000 herself through chairing various fundraisers and charity walks. Heather was the recipient of the 2007 Mrs. New Jersey U.S. Triumph Award for overcoming her own life-threatening medical complications this past year and still managing to volunteer and raise money for others in need.

Gaining national attention, Heather has been interviewed on regional and national TV programs airing on CBS and CNN Headline News, has been invited to attend the prestigious Lupus Gala at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, and will be a featured spokeswoman in a nationally published coffee-table book highlighting high-profile Lupus survivors.

For more information about Heather, please visit http://www.mrsnewjersey.com or her platform website, http://www.projectgive.com.

John Fitzsimons is in iraq right now fighting everyday for us. His 4 years were done in October but he has to stay untill April. He was the first batallion to go into iraq when Bush had the surge.

His sister Laura misses him very much and hopes he get's back home soon.

“When You Wish Upon A Website.”

Cherry Hill’s Dave Girgenti has started the website Wish Upon A Hero, an online community to make wishes and match them with people who can grant the wish. Dave told the Courier-Post the wishes range from easy to hard and everything. A Clarksboro man wants a tummy tuck, a 32-year-old woman from Florence wants a husband, a history buff from Moorestown wants to visit a castle, a 53-year-old man from Pitman wants to fix his one yellow tooth so he can have a "brighter smiler” a single mother of five in California wants "as many prayers as I can get" as she struggles to make ends meet and a 23-year-old man whose dad abandoned him at birth wants to travel to Oregon to find him, just to know "what my father looks like."

The idea came from 2 of the biggest disasters of the decade: watching people post pictures of missing loved ones around Ground Zero got him thinking about how he could quickly help a lot of people at once But, as he tells the Courier Post, the sight of a New Jersey woman donating her shoes to a victim of Hurricane Katrina spurred him to create the website wishuponahero.com.

If you want Elwood to make an appearance for an animal charity,
e-mail Karen at loveelwood@comcast.net

S.J. pooch crowned ugliest in world It didn't look good for becoming the World's Ugliest Dog.

He was cute, people at the airport told Karen Quigley, a Sewell resident who owns a 2-year-old Chinese Crested and Chihuahua mix, and "cute" isn't exactly what the judges in Petaluma, Calif., look for at their contest.

Quigley would know. Her dog Elwood had been to the World's Ugliest Dog contest before.

With bug eyes, a Mohawk, leather-like skin and two strands of hair on his tail, the dog that shuts his eyes when people pet his head finished second last year.

But He was the crowd favorite, and people at the Marin-Sonoma County Fair chanted his name as he swept each division of the pageant.

Now a bona-fide top-dog, Elwood will likely retire on top and recommit himself to charity work and special appearances; any money Elwood makes is donated to organizations that rescue abandoned and abused animals.

Christine Tonetta has been rushing to put out fires here for almost nine years.  Starting July 3, she'll be getting paid for every turnout.  
Tonetta, 33, is making history as the first woman to be appointed to a paid firefighter position with the city of Millville . She is also believed to be the first in Cumberland County, Fire Chief Kurt Hess said."It's what I've always wanted since I started at the Fire Department," Tonetta said.

 "Everyone is very excited, all my friends and family."
At just 4 inches over 5 feet tall and 135 pounds, the department's required physical agility test was a grueling experience for Tonetta.
"I don't think anybody walks away saying, 'Ooh! That was easy," she said. Tonetta also manages a warehouse in Vineland for Gerresheimer Glass Inc.

Lauren Conforti of Cologne has found a unique way to lend encouragement to soldiers overseas with the creation of Soldier Soaps.
Along with the help from her daughter and son, the Conforti's give Americans the opportunity to say thank you to the troops in a unique yet practical way that costs only two dollars and fifty cents.

"I do six different designs, three with scripture verses like keep your chin up, keep the fight up, and also three patriotic designs," said Conforti.

"It's unique because everyday when they take their shower or whatever they've got that little message on the soap and it doesn't wash off, they have it for a while."

The personalized soaps are sold at cost on a non profit basis.

"We need to support the troops and let them know we're here at home and we know they're fighting, risking their lives everyday for our freedom to say what we feel and have our flag flying - and they need that positive message," said Conforti.

To purchase one of Lauren's Soldier Soaps, go to: http://www.soldiersoaps.org

My brother Todd J. Shriver is a Specialist in the US Army.  He has been serving in Iraq for the past 6 months.  Since his time in Iraq he has signed on for another 6 years of service.  Our family and friends are so proud and grateful for his commitment to our country. By nominating him as my hero, I want all of South Jersey to know!
We love you Todd and count the days till you come home.

Also, Have you heard of the South Jersey Mom collecting the silly string for the troops in Iraq?  Well that's our mom, Marcelle Shriver!

Silly string helps troops identify trip wires without setting them off, and has saved many lives overseas.  Because of her efforts, I feel that my mom is a hero too!

Todd & my Mom are my Heros. From your loving sister and daughter Jenni Smith.

Our thirteen year old daughter Carly is truly amazing! While most girls her age are spending their free time running to the mall, movies, summer camp, etc... Carly uses her time to help others. For the past two summers (and again this year) she volunteers over 150 hundred hours each summer to work with the special needs toddlers at the Barclay Early Childhood Center in Cherry Hill. In addition to her summer volunteering, she has raised money for Juvenille Diabetees, The Voorhees Animal Shelter and the Deborah Hospital Children of the World Program.

She also participates in helping at an annual Holiday Party for
Handicapped Children. When Carly was in fifth grade she was part of a program called Special Friend where she got the opportunity to go in to the special needs classes and interact with the kids. She made one very special autistic friend named Grant. Carly has always kept in contact with Grant and for the past three years she has visited him at least once a month. It means everything to his parents for Grant to still have Carly in his life.

One of the most touching moments at her Bat Mitzvah last Fall was when Grant came up and lit one of the candles on her cake. At that moment everyone in the room got to see just how specail a person she really is. It has always been very clear to Carly what she wanted to do with her life and she has chosen to become an Occupational Therapist working with autistic children. Her patience with these kids is remarkable. It is so rare for someone her age to diplay such selflessness. In our book she is truly a hero!

Carly is our Hero. From your loving parents: Eve & Tom M.

Ocean County Regional SWAT Team, South Unit, and their Commander Sergeant Herman Pharo  - World SWAT Champions!!! The local team outperformed 27 other SWAT units from around the country and abroad at the World SWAT Challenge late last month.  The competition's events required team work and physical fitness, as well as skills like marksmanship, which are all vital for an effective SWAT team. They not only won, but they even broke the world record in one of the events, one that involved team members exiting a van, storming a building and handcuffing and carrying out a dummy suspect in the shortest amount of time. The previous record was one minute eight seconds, and the Ocean County team did it in one minute six seconds!  Pharo, the SWAT team's commander, said members are required to train at least 16 hours a month and often put in significantly more time. To get to the World SWAT Challenge, which took place in Little Rock, Ark., from April 26-28, the Ocean County team won the Northeast SWAT Challenge in Harrisburg, Pa., in October.

Members of the Team from the Ocean County Emergency Unit that participated in this event were Sergeant Herman Pharo, Patrolman Jeffrey Ross, Patrolman Kenneth Schiattarella, Patrolman Daniel Samaritano, Patrolman Michael Morrin, Patrolman Robert Woodring, Patrolman Drew Smith, Patrolman Jason Costello all of the Stafford Township Police Department and Patrolman Robert Flynn and Sam DellaSala of the Lacey Township Police Department and Officer Steven Frazzee of the Harvey Cedars Police Department.

Linda is the founder of Jersey State Animal Rescue.  She has given countless hours to saving cats/kittens.  She is completely devoted to protecting one of God's little creatures who cannot protect themselves.  Her dedication is amazing.  Although not everyone is a cat person, these creatures do not need to be tormented, abandoned, abused, neglected, etc.

Linda makes sure that each cat/kitten that is adopted out is going to it's "forever home".  These are only a few reason's why I want to nominate Linda for being a SoJo hero. (Nominated by Alison Koch of Berlin)

Over the past 3 years, Dr. Harry Chaikin of Brigantine, NJ has ridden his bicycle over 1,000 miles in charity events and raised over $26,000 for worthy causes including Multiple Sclerosis, ALS ("Lou Gehrig's Disease"), the American Cancer Society, and the Battle Against Hunger Bike Tour benefitting the Atlantic City Rescue Mission. Dr. Chaikin's dedication and tireless training for these events, some of which involve riding his bicycle over 100 miles in one day, inspire others to give and support these worthy causes.  

This year, Dr. Chaikin is planning a "South Jersey" version of the Battle Against Hunger bike ride in September and will ride from the NJ shore to Gettysburg, PA in 2 days, raising funds for the homeless and hungry in southern New Jersey.  He is truly a hero to his patients, his fellow cyclists, and those who benefit from the charities he supports.
(Nominated by Cathy Jensen of Galloway)

Spc. Michael A. Previti joined the US Army immediately after graduating EHT High School (2003). Michael graduated basic training in Fort Benning, Ga in 2003.  Michael then went on to train with the 3rd infantry division 5/7 calvary in Fort Stewart, GA  and was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and served 1 year there.  While in Iraq, Michael enlisted with the Army for 6 more years.  When he returned from Iraq in Jan. of 2005 he was transferred to Fort Eustis, Va where he is currently stationed.

Michael just completed 4 weeks of extensive training in Fort Sill, Oklahoma and gratuated with high honors.  He will soon be promoted to Sergeant.  Michael has recently received orders to transfer to the Pentagon on August 10, 2007.  Our family cannot be more proud of this young man of 22.  He has accomplished so much in so little time.  My son is my hero!!  I love you Mike, MOM (Nominated by Flora Previti of Egg Harbor Township)