The editor of The Christian Science Monitor's "People Making a Difference" page balks at singling out the "most inspiring" profiles of individuals who are giving back or are quietly helping others.
"You're asking me to choose just one of my children for special attention? All the PMADs are inspiring!" says Greg Lamb.
But backed into a corner, Lamb names three from 2010.
Australian Don Richie, a retired salesman, has been saving stranger's lives for 40 years. He's a modern-day Good Samaritan, who moved into a home near a cliff that offers beautiful views of Sydney Harbor – and a dramatic drop frequented by would-be suicide jumpers.
Monitor correspondent Kathy Marks writes:
Almost from Day 1, though, he found himself keeping an eye on the rugged cliff tops. Since then, he has coaxed hundreds of people back from the brink: the desperate, the depressed, and the mentally disturbed.
Ritchie, now an octogenarian, has been awarded a bravery medal and an Order of Australia, the country's second-highest honor.
To some, he's the "Angel of the Gap." It's an accolade that makes him smile with embarrassment.
Ora Garway is another crusader topping the 2010 PMAD list. She's the only woman newspaper editor in the African nation of Liberia. She launched her publication, Punch, in a capital city that was already crowded with 26 newspapers. Yet, she's carved a niche for herself, and her eight male reporters.
Women rarely cover the important stories, she says. "You will only find them assigned to just rewriting press releases," says Garway, who launched the biweekly Punch in June 2009. Male editors "can't allow us to do what we are able or capable of doing," she says. "I really don't know why it's like that."
Finally, Lamb points to a free school for the poor in India, launched and run by a teenager in his parents' backyard.
At age 9, Babar Ali, who comes from a relatively poor family, started teaching young cattle herders how to read. His classes under a banyan tree swelled. Now he's got hundreds coming for classes which are taught by him and a dozen volunteers who cover English, math, history, and Bengali.
Babar, now 17, just completed the 12th grade himself.
