The giving Back Awards: 15 People Who Make America Great

No anchor's transformation was more impressive than O'Brien's. With her calm voice and soft beauty, she is a perfect fit for easygoing morning TV. But, like that of her CNN colleague Anderson Cooper, O'Brien's reporting in the aftermath of Katrina displayed an inner rage that was surprising to viewers, and entirely appropriate for the occasion. Four days after the storm, O'Brien was the first to truly nail the haplessness of FEMA Director Michael Brown, asking: "How is it possible we have better intel than you?"

Off camera, O'Brien single-mindedly tried to tell the truth, and tell as much of it as she possibly could. After anchoring her broadcast in the morning she would set off into areas where CNN wasn't able to transport a signal, filing reports throughout the day by satellite phone. "We were tripping over stories," she recalls. "We would shoot stories on our way to shooting other stories, there was just so much that needed to be told."

Ten months after the storm, O'Brien says Katrina has changed her perspective. "When something happens, say your kid has a temper tantrum, you say, 'OK, this doesn't rise to the level of disaster.' Nothing is going to upset me in my personal life." But get her started on the people still living in trailers and the noise she still hears from FEMA and the chances of another bad hurricane this summer--well, let's just say she's still got her go bag fully packed.

—Jonathan Darman

9 - Traditional Charity

Boys & Girls Clubs
Atlanta