Pen Farthing of Tiverton, England is the 2014 CNN Hero of The Year
CNN Heroes: An All Star Tribute Hosted by Anderson Cooper Airs Sunday, December 7 at 8PM ET
Pen Farthing, a former Royal Marine Sergeant, who reunites soldiers with the stray dogs they befriend while serving in Afghanistan, was named the 2014 CNN Hero of the Year by Anderson Cooper at the eighth-annual CNN Heroes An All-Star Tribute.
Farthing’s nonprofit Nowzad Dogs, has helped nearly 700 soldiers from eight countries.
“I would really like to thank everybody who voted for Nowzad Charity and [for supporting] what we do in Afghanistan and for believing in us,” Farthing said while accepting his award.
Celebrity presenter Benedict Cumberbatch, star of The Imitation Game, presented Farthing with his honor earlier in the broadcast.
Each of the Top Ten CNN Heroes will receive $25,000 in recognition of their work. After winning the global vote, Farthing’s Nowzad Dogs, will receive an additional $100,000 grant to further aid his cause.
CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute airs globally on CNN on Sunday, December 7, at 8:00 p.m. ET. The star-studded tribute took place Tuesday, at the iconic American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
The evening’s celebrity presenters were Benedict Cumberbatch, John Leguizamo, Taye Diggs, Christina Hendricks, Rosie Perez, Kelly Ripa, Kathy Griffin, Uzo Aduba, Morgan Spurlock and Questlove.
Quvenzhane Wallis, Nick Jonas and Tyler James Williams also presented awards to youths being recognized by CNN as Young Wonders.
Highlights of the evening were musical performances by multi-platinum vocalist Trisha Yearwood, who performed her new single, PrizeFighter, and nine-time Grammy-Award winning guitarist, singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, who was joined onstage by Top Ten CNN Hero Arthur Bloom and the MusiCorps Wounded Warrior Band.
The Peabody Award-winning and Emmy-nominated CNN Heroes initiative honors individuals who are making extraordinary contributions to help improve the lives of others. Since its inception, CNN Heroes has received tens of thousands of submissions from more than 100 countries and profiled over 200 heroes.
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