Time is running out to cast your vote for “CNN Hero of the Year.”
The remarkable efforts of Luma Mufleh, founder of the non-profit Fugees Family, and others will be highlighted on “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,” which will air on CNN at 8 p.m. Sunday (Dec. 11). ABC’s Kelly Ripa will join Anderson Cooper as co-host for this special 10th annual show, which will air live from New York’s American Museum of Natural History.
Mufleh, along with nine other nominated heroes, who include a retiree who transformed his horse farm into a sanctuary for children with disabilities and a man who brings once-in-a-lifetime experiences to young adults battling cancer, will each receive a $10,000 cash prize. One of the 10 heroes will be named "CNN Hero of the Year," and receive an additional $100,000 for his or her cause. You can vote for the "CNN Hero of the Year" via email, Facebook Messenger and Twitter. People can vote up to 10 times a day, per method, every day through midnight Pacific Time today (Dec. 6.) To vote, go to www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/vote/.
In 2004, Mufleh took a wrong turn on her way home from a Middle Eastern market where she picked up her weekly supply of salty halloumi cheese and flat bread.
Credit: Phil Skinner
Credit: Phil Skinner
She ended up turning into an apartment complex in Clarkston where she saw barefoot refugee children playing soccer in the streets with a raggedy soccer ball and using rocks for goals. The sight reminded Mufleh of her childhood in Jordan, where soccer was an important part of her life. She returned to the apartment complex a few days later with a soccer ball, and then decided to form a soccer team for refugee boys — the Fugees (short for “refugees”).
Since then, Mufleh and the Fugees Family have grown to include year-round soccer programs for girls and boys, tutoring and Fugees Academy — the nation's only school (which is free for students) dedicated to refugee education.
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