Global National Special

Over the past year, Global National has profiled 32 Canadians who are making a difference in the lives of others. Now it’s your turn to determine who is Canada’s favourite Everyday Hero. You will be able to vote until December 11, 2009. The top pick will be announced on a special half-hour Everyday Hero broadcast, airing Christmas Day on Global Television.

THE PRIZE
Canada’s favourite Everyday Hero will be flown to Ottawa and put up in a hotel for the weekend to accept his or her award. The top pick will also have a chance to participate in the special Christmas broadcast.

WHAT MAKES AN EVERYDAY HERO?
There are many people trying to make a difference who rarely receive the media attention they deserve. Everyday Hero is our attempt to provide better balance in our newscast. We profile Canadians who don't go looking for attention, but deserve it. People who through their ideas, effort and dedication are making a difference in the lives of other people.

READ THE GLOBAL NATIONAL EVERYDAY HERO CONTEST RULES & REGULATIONS

THIS YEAR'S NOMINEES:
To watch a profile, click on the nominee's name. You'll also be able to watch the profiles of other nominees afterwards. TO VOTE, simply head towards the bottom of this page.

• Tiffany Akins: She's brightening her friend's life and her own.

• Denise Barton: When cancer invaded her child's body, she fought the disease by sharing words.

• Laura Beauparlant: She's helping save lives and inspiring teens, while searching for her own hero: the man who saved her life 14 years ago.

• Matt Capobianco: He's a Canadian providing water, one of life's necessities, to tens of thousands of people who have no access to it.

• James Cupido: He changed our policy for donating blood, after a lifetime of rolling up his sleeve for the country that gave him liberty.

• Mark Demontis: He's on a cross-country journey to ensure others will realize their dreams of playing hockey.

• Kim Dionne: Nursing is a profession full of heroes, but it's the innovation involved in some of the care from this Everyday Hero nominee that makes her stand out.

• Chris Dopp: For families struggling to put dinner on the table, he offers food for the body and nourishment for the soul.

• Ali Duale: He's using his past to help others embrace a new future. This Everyday Hero nominee is a new Canadian making other newcomers feel at home.

• Joelle Fawcett-Arsenault: She's a young Edmonton woman who conquered her eating disorder and is now teaching others to do the same.

• Susan Fyfe: She is an open-hearted woman from the Edmonton-area who helped save the lives of hundreds of magnificent horses.

• Shelby Hayter: She's a mother and athlete living with Parkinson's and sharing a lesson of determination against the odds.

• Wendy Hayward: She has a plan to try to make Afghanistan a little safer, following the death of her son, who had served our country.

• Justin Hines: He's breaking through barriers to help others stand tall. Learn how his musical message bringing hope and inspiration.

• Jeannette Holman-Price: She's a mother crusading for safer roads after her daughter's senseless death.

• Dwight Hounsell: He brought an outdoor rink back from the brink. Now he is being hailed a community champion.

• Michelle Limoges: She saw a need to help others in distress, so she trained her dogs to be way more than just best friends.

• Aubrey London: He offers a hand up to addicts who are down and out.

• Josephine Mandamin: She's a grandmother who is on a spiritual journey to help protect a precious resource.

• Lynda & Lionel Mason: For 31 years, these Everyday Hero nominees have been bringing a lot of smiles to some special people.

• Andrew Miller: He's planting a foundation to change how low income families eat.

• Eleanor Nielsen: She's teaching other breast cancer survivors how to rise to the challenge - instead of easing up.

• Phyllis Novak: She helps the disadvantaged sketch out a better future through artistic expression.

• Jake Shtern: He's an Everyday Hero nominee dreaming of flat screen TVs and video games...and curing the boredom of kids with cancer.

• Kate Stewart: She helps women carve out a better future, by giving them the courage to rebuild after they were knocked down by life.

• Wil Thompson: He was already a successful businessman, but wanted to make a different contribution - so he traded in the boardroom for the dusty streets of Kandahar.

• Ben Verboom: Mental illness cost a family their father. Now he is fighting to beat back the darkness.

• Olwyn Walter: She's a Halifax woman who gave a little boy with a crippling deformity the chance to heal.

• Melanie Whightman: She honours a mother whose own child was taken too soon.

• Harry Whitehead: He lived through the great depression and knows how to get through trying times. Now he's helping others do just that.

• Bob Wilcox: He's helping troubled teens square away their lives - with squaring off in the boxing ring.

• Dr. Ray Wiss: He revolutionized emergency medicine in Canada with a simple idea - use the ultrasound that scans for babies, and let war medics use it to save more lives in Afghanistan.

LINK TO OUR MAIN EVERYDAY HERO PAGE AND SUBMIT NOMINEES FOR 2010.