BY RUBEN D. MANAHAN 4TH REPORTER

Filipino Efren Peñaflorida, known for his “pushcart education” was hailed as this year’s CNN hero of the year, according to a report on Sunday. Peñaflorida received the award Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at a Hollywood gala event at the Kodak Theater, which, according to a story posted on the CNN website, is best known as the first permanent home of the Academy Awards. The event was taped before an audience of 3,000.

The Filipino received the most number of votes during the seven-week online voting at CNN.com. For edging out other “hero” finalists in seven weeks of online voting at CNN.com, Peñaflorida received $100,000 to continue his work with the Dynamic Teen Co.

Dynamic Teen has 10,000 members who have taught basic reading and writing to some 1,500 kids living in poverty in the Philippines.

According to CNN, more than 2.75 million votes were cast for the online poll.

Hero within

In accepting the honor, Peñaflorida said that “each person has hero within” and one should “just look inside their hearts.”

“Our planet is filled with heroes, young and old, rich and poor, man, woman of different colors, shapes and sizes,” Peñaflorida said. “We are one great tapestry. Each person has a hidden hero within, you just have to look inside you and search it in your heart, and be the hero to the next one in need.”

“So to each and every person inside in this theater and for those who are watching at home, the hero in you is waiting to be unleashed,” the Filipino added. “Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve. As I always tell to my co-volunteers . . . you are the change that you dream as I am the change that I dream and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be.”

CNN reported that during the event, host Anderson Cooper announced Peñaflorida’s selection at the conclusion of the third-annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute.”

“With the recognition they receive on our stage, they’ll be able to help thousands and thousands of people. Through their efforts, lives will be changed and lives will be saved,” Cooper said
The presenters of the documentaries included Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Neil Patrick Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes, Randy Jackson, Greg Kinnear, George Lopez and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

More CNN heroes

The others in the top 10 CNN heroes were Brad Blauser, who was recognized for his Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids program; Army veteran Roy Foster, who started Stand Down House for war veterans living in Florida; bartender Doc Hendley and his nonprofit Wine to Water; breast cancer survivor Andrea Ivory and the mobile mammography vans; Zimbabwe native Betty Makoni, who founded the Girl Child Network that provides a haven for young victims of sexual abuse; school bus driver Jorge Muñoz for his mobile soup kitchen giving free meals in Queens, New York; Budi Soehardi’s Roslin Orphanage; Derrick Tabb’s musical education through The Roots of Music; and Jordan Thomas, who provides prosthetics for children.

A panel chose the finalists from an initial pool of more than 9,000 viewer nominations. The finalists were given $25,000 and were honored in a documentary tribute.

The gala event can be seen on in the Philippines on CNN at 10 a.m. on November 27.

Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide, said, “This record number of nominations is further evidence of the momentum CNN Heroes has built in just a few short years. Viewers have been engaged by these stories of inspiration and accomplishment beyond our expectations.”