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WASHINGTON, Apr 7 (OneWorld) - Five adults and five youths were inaugurated into the Hall of Fame for Caring Americans today, a tribute to national role models who have dedicated their lives to the advancement of others.

© Caring Institute"It is a great honor for us to pay tribute to these extraordinary people who have used their lives for the betterment of others. They are wonderful role models and the very personification of caring," said former U.S. Senator Bob Dole, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Caring Institute.

Over the last 21 years, the National Caring Awards have been presented annually to the 10 Americans whose selfless devotion to others inspires the greater community to take action.

Thousands of nominations are submitted each year by major newspapers, television stations, governors, members of Congress, mayors, CEOs from Fortune 500 companies, and regular Americans.

This year's award winners will be memorialized alongside former winners, including President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter, in the Frederick Douglass Museum and Hall of Fame for Caring Americans in the nation's capital.

Mother Teresa once said there is "a poverty of the spirit in the developed world which [is] much worse than the poverty of the body seen in the third world," explained Val Halamandaris, founder of the nonprofit Caring Institute, at a reception honoring the winners. "The antidote to our current dilemma -- the poverty of the spirit -- is caring."

© Caring InstituteGreg Porter, one of the adult recipients, displayed no such poverty of spirit as he left his business and home in Kentucky to serve 3,000 meals a day for two years to people affected by Hurricane Katrina.

"When it comes to education, example is not just a factor, it is the only factor that matters," said Halamandaris, quoting Albert Schweitzer at the awards ceremony.

Porter's example attracted 13,000 volunteers -- traveling from near and far -- to live and work with him for an average of a week each in a large circus tent erected near the Gulf of Mississippi.

"Volunteer work can be done anywhere," said Porter, adding that most rewarding was to see how the spirit of service "got in their blood," with many first-time volunteers heading home to launch or engage in local projects.

Porter now brings his latest endeavors -- a mobile food kitchen and a first-response unit -- "anywhere disaster strikes and a helping hand is needed."

© Caring Institute"It gives me life to watch someone who is suffering and help them," said Sister Adele O'Sullivan, another honoree.

O'Sullivan always wanted to dedicate her life to helping others; after getting her medical degree in 1984, she found her niche.

Now the medical director of the Phoenix-based Healthcare for the Homeless clinic, O'Sullivan attends to some of Phoenix's most underprivileged residents.

When she is not busy at the clinic, O'Sullivan tours the Phoenix streets with the grassroots organization Circle the City in search of those who cannot go home to a clean bed to fully recuperate after a hospital visit.

"[My patients are] unique persons with unique stories...I feel very fortunate to care for them," concluded O'Sullivan.

© Caring Institute"When people tell you something is impossible, it's because it hasn't been done yet," said Ashlee Kephart, one of the National Caring Institute's youth inductees.

Only 16 years old, Kephart is the founder of Kids for a Better World, an organization that raises money to send books to children's hospitals and orphanages, shoes to underprivileged families, and "Caring Bags" to the homeless.

Kephart's donations find their way around the United States, but also go as far as Kenya and Liberia, where Kids for a Better World recently launched a local chapter. Despite the material aid it provides, Kephart maintains that Kids for a Better World's main goal is to "establish the volunteering feeling" among youth so that they will carry on the tradition of service.

A volunteer since she first joined the Girl Scouts at age five, Kephart is currently working on a project to create jobs in Liberia by building a factory to produce solar-powered ovens.

© Caring InstituteKephart shared the stage Monday with Dallas Jessup, also 16.

A Tae Kwon Do black belt and Filipino street fighter who can take down a grown man, Jessup says her call to action was the abduction and death of a young girl from Florida.

To empower girls around the world, Jessup played a key role in the production of "Just Yell Fire," a free training video teaching self-protection for young women that has been viewed by 2 million people in 37 countries.

Jessup, who says the girls she meets are what keep her going, also travels to schools around the United States to help instill in young women the knowledge that they have the right to stand up for themselves if facing a scenario like date rape or abduction.

This year's other youth inductees include Jami Harper, 19, of Grand Island, Nebraska; Alexandra Holderman, 14, of Mishawaka, Indiana; and Vasanth Kuppuswamy, 18, of Charleston, South Carolina. The other adult honorees are Dick Grace of St. Helena, California; Reverend Cecil Williams of San Francisco, California; and famed basketball coach John Wooden of Encino, California.

A list of all current and past Hall of Fame inductees can be found at the Caring Institute's Web site.

OneWorld TV: Living Service (India)

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