GLOBAL BROADCAST WILL AIR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6 AT 8PM ET/PT
Promo: https://youtu.be/AurUSeR6NuQ
NEW YORK, NY – (October 29, 2025) – The Peabody and Emmy® Award-winning CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute, which honors everyday people who are making extraordinary contributions to help improve the lives of others, returns on Saturday, December 6 at 8pm ET/PT. This year’s Top 5 CNN Heroes were revealed today by CNN Anchor Anderson Cooper on CNN News Central and will be honored during the broadcast hosted by Cooper and CNN Anchor Laura Coates.
Beginning today at 12pm ET, viewers can support the CNN Hero who inspires them the most by voting for the CNN Hero of the Year. Supporters can vote daily at CNN.com/Heroes by logging in via email. Viewers get 10 votes a day, every day through Thursday, November 30. All 10 daily votes can be cast for one hero or divided among favorites and viewers can double their votes by sharing on social media.
The 2025 Top 5 CNN Heroes are:
Quilen Blackwell, Southside Blooms – Chicago, Illinois
While tutoring high school students, Quilen Blackwell saw all the challenges facing young people on Chicago’s South Side, so he started creating opportunities for them to blossom. Today, his social enterprise turns vacant lots into eco-friendly flower farms, employing local young people to grow, harvest, arrange, and sell flowers at his group’s nonprofit flower shop.
Heidi Carman, First Responder Therapy Dogs – San Rafael, California
When massive wildfires hit California in 2020, Heidi Carman and her certified therapy dog made it their mission to comfort firefighters working on the front lines. Today, her nonprofit’s therapy dog teams visit first responders across the country, helping provide relief from chronic stress.
Hillary Cohen, Every Day Action – Los Angeles, California
While working as an assistant director in Hollywood, Hillary Cohen enjoyed the gourmet crew meals served every day on set but was appalled that the leftovers were thrown away. Today, the nonprofit she co-founded rescues meals from TV and film sets and other businesses and delivers them to people in need, ensuring the food helps alleviate hunger and doesn’t go to waste.
Debra Des Vignes, Indiana Prison Writers Workshop – Indianapolis, Indiana
Spending a decade as a crime reporter, Debra Des Vignes volunteered in a prison to better understand the people behind the stories she covered. The experience inspired her to start her nonprofit creative writing program that now helps incarcerated people in three states share their stories, process trauma, and build community.
Tim Woodward, Animal Rescue Corps – Gallatin, Tennessee
As an animal welfare worker, Tim Woodward realized there was a gap in the system for responding to large-scale cruelty cases. Today, his organization mobilizes to rescue large numbers of abused animals from horrific conditions and give them a new start in life.
Each Top 5 CNN Hero will be awarded $10,000 and the CNN Hero of the Year will receive an additional $100,000 to continue their life-changing work.
For the fourth year, CNN Heroes is collaborating with the Elevate Prize Foundation, a global nonprofit on a mission to Make Good Famous, committed to bringing visibility to the work of changemakers and inspiring the world. The Elevate Prize Foundation will grant the CNN Hero of the Year an additional unrestricted grant of $100,000 and provide the remaining honorees with a generous grant of donation matching funds up to $50,000 each, organizational capacity-building, and resources to bring visibility to their work and maximize their impact.
CNN has partnered with Pledge, the award-winning fundraising platform trusted by millions, to power giving for this year’s Heroes. Supporters can learn more and make online donations to the Top 5 CNN Heroes’ nonprofit organizations directly from CNN.com/Heroes.
CNN Heroes is honored to have the commitment of brand partners Humana, now in its fifteenth year of support, as well as established partner SERVPRO.
CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute will broadcast on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español on Saturday, December 6. It will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps. The show will be available on demand beginning Sunday, December 7 to CNN’s All Access subscribers and pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps, and Cable Operator Platforms.
CNN.com/Heroes | #CNNHeroes
###
About CNN Worldwide
CNN is the most honored brand in cable news, reaching more individuals through television, streaming and online than any other cable news organization in the United States. Globally, people around the world can watch CNN International, which is widely distributed in over 200 countries and territories. CNN is also the #1 online news destination, reaching more than 140 million people around the world every month. CNN’s award-winning portfolio includes non-scripted programming from CNN Original Series and CNN Films for broadcast, streaming and distribution across multiple platforms. Audiences can experience the CNN offering through its All Access subscription, a centralized place with live channels, on-demand video, new releases and library content from CNN Originals, along with articles. The direct-to-consumer subscription offering is available across web, mobile and connected TV apps. CNN programming can be found on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español channels via Pay TV.. You can also stream a library of CNN Originals content on HBO Max, discovery+ and via pay TV subscription on CNN.com, CNN apps and cable operator platforms. Additionally, CNN Newsource is the world’s most extensively utilized news service partnering with over 1,000 local and international news organizations around the world. CNN is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery.
About Warner Bros. Discovery
Warner Bros. Discovery is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world’s most differentiated and complete portfolio of branded content across television, film, streaming and gaming. Available in more than 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Warner Bros. Discovery inspires, informs and entertains audiences worldwide through its iconic brands and products including: Discovery Channel, Max, discovery+, CNN, DC, TNT Sports, Eurosport, HBO, HGTV, Food Network, OWN, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Magnolia Network, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, Warner Bros. Games, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, Discovery en Español, Hogar de HGTV and others. For more information, please visit www.wbd.com.
Press Contacts:
Jordan Overstreet
Jordan.Overstreet@cnn.com
Sophie Tran
Sophie.Tran@cnn.com