The giving Back Awards: 15 People Who Make America Great

That help comes at no cost--Kaplan has never charged an FOP patient. "I find it unconscionable," he says. "Who else are they going to turn to?" Kaplan's salary comes from the university and an endowed chair; the majority of his research dollars are raised by FOP families at barbecues, golf tournaments and garage sales. Last year's total: $1.2 million. Kaplan says he won't quit until there's an effective treatment--and a cure. In the meantime he's cultivating young talent. This summer Vincent Whelan, now 19 and a pre-med student, will spend a week working in Kaplan's lab. "Dr. Kaplan has really inspired me to want to be a doctor," he says. A great legacy for a hero of a man.

—Claudia Kalb

15 - Hometown Hero

Margaret Ross
Oakland, Miss.

At 73, this retired librarian does whatever she can to help whomever she can.

Margaret Ross, 73, says she's just like her neighbors in Oakland, Miss.: in this rural farming town (population: 600) people help one another. But even among those who live by the golden rule, Ross is something special. Soft-spoken and energetic, she's raised five children on a dairy farm, worked as a librarian and now spends her days quietly helping people. She's involved in a prison ministry. She corresponds with a homeless woman she met while vacationing in San Diego. When illness strikes, friends and even friends of friends rely on her to drive them to the doctor, a trip that can take two hours each way. After she discovered that a neighbor was struggling with debilitating heart disease, Ross regularly brought her food, toiletries and medicine--then launched a two-year campaign to get her a Social Security check. Being a town elder helps. "I'm old enough to be a pretty good judge of character," she says. She also knows whom to tap for help. Not long ago, a family from Arkansas pulled off the interstate at Oakland, hungry, out of gas and broke. The cashier at the Exxon station called Ross, who collected enough money to get them on their way. "There's so many wonderful things that happen on a small scale," says Ross. "I wish people could read more about them." Consider it done.