"CNN Heroes" Announces Event to Honor Norfolk resident Carolyn LeCroyCNN Heroes and Mayor Paul Fraim will honor Carolyn LeCroy of Norfolk, VA, on Nov. 12 at Old Dominion University in anticipation of "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute," launched last year to spotlight ordinary citizens accomplishing extraordinary deeds, and airing on Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT). LeCroy was named a CNN HEROES honoree last month for her work helping incarcerated parents stay connected with their children. She will be awarded $25,000 - and is eligible for the $100,000 prize that will be bestowed upon the CNN HERO OF THE YEAR later this month. Hosted by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CNN HEROES: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE will air globally on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Espa+¦ol.
This year's Top 10 CNN Heroes, as selected by the Blue Ribbon Panel, were unveiled by Cooper on CNN's American Morning last month. The public will select the "CNN Hero of the Year" via voting at the CNN Heroes site at www.CNN.com/Heroes through Wednesday, Nov. 19. At the November gala, CNN will honor the 10 heroes and reveal the CNN Hero of the Year. In its second year, the multiplatform initiative received nearly 4,000 submissions from 75 countries. The inaugural CNN Heroes tribute broadcast in 2007 featured appearances by Glenn Close, Harry Connick Jr. and Jimmy Smits, as well as performances by Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow and Wyclef Jean with Norah Jones. In the United States, a cumulative 7.2 million total viewers and nearly 2.9 million P25-54 viewers watched the tribute; millions more watched worldwide.
While serving time in prison for drug-possession, Carlyon LeCroy witnessed first-hand the devastating impact incarceration has on relationships between inmates and their children. After making parole in 1996, Carolyn LeCroy decided to take a bad situation and turn it into something positive. Using her background as a film and video producer, LeCroy started The Messages Project. In December 1999, she and volunteer camera crews were granted admission to Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Troy, Virginia. There, they recorded video messages with mothers to be mailed to their children and families as Christmas gifts. Since then, The Messages Project has worked in six state prisons at least three times a year. LeCroy and volunteers have recorded roughly 3,000 video messages, stories, poems and wishes from inmates to their children and families.
WHO: Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim
Carolyn LeCroy, CNN HEROES NOMINEE
Students and Faculty from Old Dominion University social and criminal justice departmentsWHEN: Wed., Nov. 12, 2008, 11:00 am
WHERE: North Mall, Webb Center
Old Dominion University
1301 49th Street
Norfolk, VACNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world's most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.