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WETA Hometown Heroes

Hometown Heroes logo 2007

For more than ten years, WETA's Hometown Heroes project has honored Washington-area individuals whose work and volunteer efforts benefit the Greater Washington area. Each individual is recognized with a televised profile.

WETA Hometown Heroes video profiles are broadcast periodically on TV 26. You can also watch these segments anytime online by clicking below.

This year's Hometown Heroes

Ed and Kathleen Guinan

2008

Ed and Kathleen Guinan

WETA Hometown Heroes November 2008. Ed and Kathleen Guinan have exhibited a lifelong focus on creating organizations that endorse positive change for underprivileged people in the Greater Washington area.

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Gillian Kilberg Hodge

2008

Gillian Kilberg Hodge

WETA Hometown Hero, October 2008. Gillian Kilberg Hodge founded Grandma's Rita's Children, an organization that provides summer outreach programs and educational opportunities to dozens of underprivileged children.

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Marcia Gardner

2008

Marcia Gardner

WETA Hometown Hero September 2008. As the education director of Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, Marcia Gardner develops education programs that encourage underserved students to expand their imaginations and think innovatively about the world.

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hero_0807_prince_yonkers

2008

Bernadine Prince and Anne Yonkers

WETA Hometown Heroes July 2008. Ann Yonkers and Bernadine Prince are co-directors and co-founders of FRESHFARM Markets, which promotes the benefits of choosing local produce from the Chesapeake Bay area.

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hero_0806_gerdes_thomas

2008

Morgan Thomas and Patrick Gerdes

WETA Hometown Heroes June 2008. Patrick Gerdes and Morgan Thomas are co-presidents of the Fathers' Circle at Kingsview Middle School (KMS) in Germantown, Maryland.

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hero_0805_flashenberg

2008

Liesel Flashenberg

WETA Hometown Hero May 2008. Liesel Flashenberg, President of Through The Kitchen Door International inspires underserved youth, women and immigrants by using food services to improve their lives.

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hero_0804_palacios2

2008

Marta Palacios

WETA Hometown Hero April 2008. Dr. Marta Palacios, principal of Bruce-Monroe Elementary School in Northwest, Washington, D.C., has made her life a quest for professional development and serving students in the District.

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hero_0802_mason

2008

Barbara Mason

WETA Hometown Hero February 2008. Barbara Mason is the founder and executive director of the Child & Family Network Centers, which provides education to young underpriviledged children and job training to their parents.

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Previous WETA Hometown Heroes

Also see WETA Hometown Heroes from previous years:

About the project

For ten years, the WETA Hometown Heroes project has honored Washington-area individuals whose work and volunteer efforts benefit the Greater Washington area.

More than 85 individuals have been honored since 1999. The project has recognized each individual with a television profile, and an annual gala luncheon brings each year's honorees together in celebration of their contributions.

WETA Hometown Heroes has won more than five local Emmy Awards for community service.

WETA Hometown Heroes has been made possible through the generous support of the Park Foundation, Inc., The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The Bank of America Foundation, and The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation.