NEW YORK — CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute returns to New York this Saturday as five everyday changemakers compete for CNN Heroes 2025 honors and the chance to unlock up to $250,000 in matching donations for their life-changing work. By combining a global television spotlight with donation matching from the Elevate Prize Foundation and a digital giving platform powered by Pledge, the campaign aims to turn grassroots compassion into measurable community impact, Dec. 6, 2025.
Why CNN Heroes 2025 matters for everyday givers
In a recent press release from CNN and the Elevate Prize Foundation, the partners confirmed that each of the 2025 Top 5 CNN Heroes is eligible for a dollar-for-dollar match on donations to their nonprofit, up to $50,000 apiece — creating $250,000 in potential matched support that can keep their work going long after the broadcast ends.
The Elevate Prize Foundation’s CNN Heroes partnership page adds that, beyond the match, the CNN Hero of the Year will receive a separate $50,000 Elevate grant and that all five heroes gain access to year-long capacity-building, visibility support and a Make Good Famous Summit designed to connect them with peers and partners. Those resources sit on top of CNN’s long-standing structure of $10,000 grants to each honoree and an additional $100,000 for the CNN Hero of the Year, a model that has defined the franchise for years.
At the heart of CNN Heroes 2025 are five extraordinary leaders already reshaping their communities. Chicago’s Quilen Blackwell turns vacant lots into Southside Blooms flower farms that employ local youth; Heidi Carman’s First Responder Therapy Dogs bring comfort to firefighters and emergency crews; in Los Angeles, Hillary Cohen’s Every Day Action rescues uneaten meals from TV and film sets to feed people facing hunger; journalist-turned-advocate Debra Des Vignes runs the Indiana Prison Writers Workshop to help incarcerated people process trauma through storytelling; and Tim Woodward’s Animal Rescue Corps coordinates large-scale rescues of abused animals across the United States. “This is about creating real and tangible opportunity in a place that desperately needs it,” Blackwell said of his Southside Blooms farms, capturing the spirit of the entire class.
Building on years of impact
Matching grants are not new to the franchise; a 2024 announcement from CNN and the Elevate Prize Foundation laid out the same $50,000-per-hero match structure and an additional $50,000 Elevate grant for the CNN Hero of the Year. Last year, Stephen Knight, founder of Dogs Matter, was named the 2024 CNN Hero of the Year and said the combined support would “take us to the next level” in helping people stay sober without having to give up their pets. CNN Heroes 2025 extends that model, showing how consistent matching support and long-term capacity-building are becoming core to how the 19-year-old franchise fuels the work of its honorees.
How to support the Top 5 heroes now
Anyone looking to support CNN Heroes 2025 can still help move these stories forward. Pledge outlines simple ways to give in its Celebrating Everyday Heroes with CNN blog, including online donations, QR codes and text-to-donate options that route gifts directly to each hero’s nonprofit, while CNN directs viewers to CNNHeroes.com as the central hub for information about donations and, when voting is open, for choosing the CNN Hero of the Year. During the Giving Tuesday campaign, donations made through these channels are matched up to $50,000 per hero by the Elevate Prize Foundation, multiplying the impact of every gift.
