{"id":210085,"date":"2026-03-28T23:24:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T23:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/210085\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T23:24:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T23:24:25","slug":"spectrum-bay-news-9s-a-salute-to-everyday-heroes-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/210085\/","title":{"rendered":"Spectrum Bay News 9’s “A Salute to Everyday Heroes” 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cA Salute to Spectrum Bay News 9’s Everyday Heroes<\/a>\u201d is our way of saying thank you to everyone who donates their time, their talent, their gifts, and their all, giving back to our neighbors in need.<\/p>\n

This past year, we featured heroes from across our viewing area, demonstrating why the Tampa Bay area is such a great place to live and to serve.\u00a0 At Spectrum Bay News 9, we\u2019re proud to honor YOU and share YOUR stories.<\/p>\n

Every Monday on Spectrum Bay News 9, we highlight a hero who is making a difference in our local community.\u00a0A Salute to Everyday Heroes\u00a0honors all of our 2025 nominees and celebrates seven special heroes in seven distinct categories. These heroes showcase what a true Everyday Hero is… someone who goes above and beyond. They don’t do it for the recognition. They do it because it’s the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to all of our 2025 Everyday Heroes winners and nominees.<\/p>\n

\"2025
\n<\/a>2025 Public Service Hero of the Year<\/p>\n

A retired Winter Haven police officer is still serving her community after 30 years on the force. Carol Bradley is a beloved figure for thousands of former students and their parents. Read her story \u2192<\/p>\n

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\"2025
\n<\/a>2025 Education Hero of the Year<\/p>\n

A Bay area man has turned his love of kayaking and fishing into a nonprofit. Mario Cruz loves to pass along his passion for the open water to young people.<\/p>\n

Cruz said he grew up fishing with his father in Puerto Rico and then in the Bay area when his family moved to Safety Harbor. Read his story \u2192<\/p>\n

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\"2025
\n<\/a>2025 Health Advocate Hero of the Year<\/p>\n

A Tampa neonatal intensive care unit nurse creates a special bond with many of the tiny babies she cares for and their parents, too.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bond that often continues for Angie Santiago after the babies leave St. Joseph\u2019s Women\u2019s Hospital. Read her story \u2192<\/p>\n

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\"2025
\n<\/a>2025 Volunteer Hero of the Year<\/p>\n

Polk County\u2019s Toys for Tots director is spending up to 70 hours a week this time of the year to make sure many kids in need have a great Christmas.<\/p>\n

Angela Davis took over the volunteer position several years ago after former director David Waller passed away. Read her story \u2192<\/p>\n

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\"2025
\n<\/a>2025 Young Hero of the Year<\/p>\n

A Hillsborough County high school student saw a need at her school and decided to do something about it.<\/p>\n

Junior Sophie Farnan got a huge response from the community for her project called Sophie\u2019s Closet. Read her story \u2192<\/p>\n

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\"2025
\n<\/a>2025 Viewers\u2019 Choice of the Year<\/p>\n

A Pasco County couple has adopted five children over the past three years. Jolene and Aaron Slavik adopted the children after taking in dozens of foster children.<\/p>\n

The first child the couple adopted was a boy who they had taken in as a foster child.<\/p>\n

The adoption was finalized in 2022. That boy is now 14-years-old. Then, they adopted three young siblings in 2023. Finally, they adopted a little girl in 2024. Read their story \u2192<\/p>\n

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\"2025
\n<\/a>2025 Hero of the Year<\/p>\n

A Bay Area businessman has a special heart for the homeless and the needy. Hennry Idleburgh Jr. and some of his friends feed the needy and homeless in downtown Tampa each Sunday.<\/p>\n

Idleburgh and his ministry called The Overcomers of Tampa Bay set up tents for shade and tables and chairs for their events. Read his story \u2192<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cA Salute to Spectrum Bay News 9’s Everyday Heroes\u201d is our way of saying thank you to everyone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2297,274,2296,2200,115,275,135,137,136,278,835],"class_list":["post-210085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-app-everyday-heroes","tag-app-top-stories","tag-everyday-hero","tag-instagram-bn9","tag-news","tag-spectrum-news-staff","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}