Brian O'Henley may be a tough guy on the outside, but he's soft and squishy on the inside. And that's why he stopped his Harley on busy Batavia Street near Katella in Orange a few months back to help an injured raccoon lying in the middle of the road. Brian tells me when he first rode past the raccoon, he thought it was dead...but the animal raised its head and looked him straight in the eyes. Does he consider himself to be a hero?? Not really, but Brian says he'd stop and help any living creature in need. He's just glad animal rescue was able to fix up the raccoon's injured leg and release it back into the wild.

A Beverly Hills realtor makes it "real" for teen-agers by building schools in the heart of Africa. Keith Cox is talking about his recent trip to Africa and the Malawi School project. The Beverly Hills realtor is also Reverend Cox...chairperson of the Religious Science International Youth Seminar... Keith tells me they've built 5 schools already...and they've raised the money to build 5 more. When the 10 schools are finished, Keith says the project will have touched the lives of more than 10-thousand children and 3-thousand adults in a deep and meaningful way.

Bob Harraka is the owner of Professional Tutors of America....and he's been helping kids across the country for 25 years. These days, the Brea resident is focusing on his "Fallen Soldiers" program....which provides free tutoring for any child who's lost a parent to the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. The former high school math teacher and Vietnam vet tells me the free tutoring program is the least he can do for families who've made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Since he's dealing with a government bureaucracy, it's tough for Bob to get the names of kids who need help. 1-800-TEACHUS will put needy students in touch with Bob.

Elizabeth Neat tells me she had an epiphany 21 years ago. A speaker at an education conference challenged the attendees to become mentors and Elizabeth took it to heart. From that point on, Elizabeth brought Craig into her family....taking him on hikes, camp outs and to the theme parks with her 2 sons. She also got involved in his education...meeting with his teachers and tutoring him all the way through high school. Is she proud of him? That's an understatement. Craig is now a corrections officer with L-A County...all thanks to the help he received from a caring adult.

When most 76-year-olds are taking it easy, Chuck Wackerman is hard at work doing what he loves best...teaching music and directing the elite jazz ensemble at McAuliffe Middle School in Los Alamitos. Chuck has been a band director for 52 years! Yes, I said 52 years!  Chuck is in the classroom at 6:30 every weekday morning...rehearsing with the kids for 2 hours. On Fridays, he conducts another 2-hour rehearsal.  During jazz festival season in the spring, Chuck is the first one at the school loading equipment on the bus. The McAuliffe jazz ensemble competes at festivals all over Southern California and consistently wins first place. So, why does Chuck work himself and the kids so hard??  Former student Nick Jocks says Chuck has inspired many young people to follow in his footsteps as a music director.