Jan Maloff saw a need 20+ years ago and created the CNY Family Bicycle Giveaway Foundation. This organization collects donated used bicycles and parts, refurbishes them, and gives them to children and adults who need them. CNY Family Bike Giveaway Foundation received not-for-profit status in 2007, and for the past 20 years, has been putting bicycles in the hands of families in the community. They also have many community partners they collaborate with to make positive impacts on the community (Onondaga Cycling Club, The Great New York State Fair, Syracuse Schools, local police departments, and individual donors and repair volunteers).

In May 2021, Rob Bishop’s then 17-year-old son, Isaac, was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma. This aggressive pediatric bone cancer requires equally aggressive treatment, which has included many different chemotherapy drugs, several surgeries, and many blood and platelet transfusions. While his prognosis looks good, Isaac is fighting every step of the way and needs these blood products to be successful in his battle.

Inspired by his son, Rob has gone above and beyond to help amplify the message about the importance of donating blood. Rob and his family (including Isaac) have generously donated their time to sponsor two blood drives each year resulting in additional collections for the American Red Cross. Rob has also done several locally and nationally broadcast interviews discussing blood donation, including NPR and iHeartMedia.

In March 2022, a 100-unit apartment complex, home to elderly, disabled, and low-income families was impacted by a fire, displacing 87 people. This was the largest disaster to face St. Lawrence County in recent history. Before the Red Cross even arrived on the scene, John B. Miller Jr. was pinned as the "go to" for all response operations by the St. Lawrence County Emergency Manager. In the first 24 hours, John coordinated the initial reception center for the displaced residents at a local school, found accessible transportation to the shelter site, coordinated for the buses to stop at Salvation Army to pick up clean clothes for displaced residents, identified food resources, and aided in identifying a long-term shelter for the impacted to recover and plan their next steps after the trauma they endured.       

When news broke the following morning that the building had sustained significant damage and had been condemned, John got even busier. John stepped away from his otherwise full-time profession as a special education teacher and worked in the shelter for the next 14 days straight, working tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of those in his community. He supported the day-to-day needs of the residents in the shelter, connected them with resources to meet their medical needs, helped with transition planning, and took accountability for each resident. John also worked with St. Lawrence County Housing Authority to find alternate housing for every single person impacted and again coordinated free transportation for these individuals to their new homes.

Honor Flight of Syracuse is celebrating their 10th Anniversary this year. In May 2012, Syracuse became an official hub in the Honor Flight Network. Since then, their founding board and core group of volunteers have built a viable, long-term organization to provide “the Honor Flight Mission” experience, and honor America’s veterans by transporting them to Washington, D.C. to visit the national memorials dedicated to their service and sacrifice. Their goal is to help every single veteran in the greater Syracuse area, willing and capable, to obtain a flight (or a bus-trip) to visit their memorial at no cost to them.

Honor Flight of Syracuse flies at least two (2) missions each year to serve Veterans from the greater Syracuse area – covering ten counties in Central and Northern New York and the Mohawk Valley. Their most recent mission was held in September 2022.  

On April 26, 2022 at approximately 6:45 pm at the Friendly’s Restaurant in Clay, Dannielle Binns had just sat down with her 5-year-old daughter and a friend, when she suddenly heard another mother in the restaurant yell “my baby is choking.” Dannielle, who is a teacher in the West Genesee School District and an EMT for Waves, TLC, and Dome Medical, jumped into action; she informed the mother she was an EMT and grabbed the 3-year-old little girl, who wasn’t breathing and was clearly choking. Dannielle started doing back blows on the child, and 9-1-1 was called. After four hard back blows, the little girl vomited all over and was finally able to breathe again.

After this entire incident, Dannielle used an interview with Syracuse.com as an opportunity to remind people of the importance of knowing how to help someone in need, as anyone can choke or have a medical emergency at any time. She was quoted as saying “That could have been anyone... You don’t have to be an EMT. You could be a civilian who is trained in CPR. You just never know when you might be needed to help someone else out.”

After losing a friend to a home fire in January 2019, Brett Saunders (11) was inspired to start a campaign to make homes safer and bring fire safety education to his school and other schools in Herkimer County. Teaming up with local fire departments, the Brett Saunders Fire Safety program was born, and has grown each year – collecting smoke detectors for homes and teaching students how to use smoke detectors and other fire safety tips so that they will be prepared in case of a fire emergency in their own home.

David Hanson's volunteerism activities make him the epitome of a Real Hero. He has been a highly active member of the West Monroe Volunteer Fire Department for 42 years and continues to take a leading role in responding to alarms, mentoring new members, and leading the department. David's actions have saved lives, most recently during an incident in December 2021.

David also serves as an unpaid member of the board of directors of the West Monroe Cemetery. His impact on his community lies in paying it forward and promoting humanitarianism. The culmination of David’s daily activities is the definition of heroism and selflessness.