Efren Peñaflorida

Efren Geronimo Peñaflorida, (born March 5, 1981), is a Filipino teacher and development worker. He offers Filipino youth an alternative to street gangs through education, recreating school settings in unconventional locations such as cemeteries and trash dumps.

In March 2009, Peñaflorida was featured as a CNN Hero as part of the news network's program to honor individuals who make extraordinary contributions to help others. On November 22, 2009, he was named CNN Hero of the Year.

Early life Efren Peñaflorida was born the middle child of Efren Peñaflorida Sr., a tricycle driver, and Lucila Geronimo, a housewife. The family eventually started a small nut business to make ends meet.

Peñaflorida completed his elementary and high school education through the help of scholarships and financial assistance, and received several class awards and honors. They collaborated with Club 8586, another community service organization operating in the area.

They eventually pioneered the idea of the "pushcart classroom", where pushcarts were stocked with school materials such as books, pens, tables, and chairs, and then used on Saturdays to recreate school settings in unconventional locations such as the cemetery or trash dump. After sifting through 9,000 nominees from over 100 countries, CNN's Blue Ribbon Panel selected Peñaflorida as one of its 28 heroes of 2009. On October 1, Peñaflorida was named among the ten finalists. On November 22, he was named CNN Hero of the Year for 2009.