. >> folks like demi moore, gerard butler, george lopez, rain wilson, holly robinson peet and j.r. martinez. meet a new group of amazing individuals, the top ten heroes of 2011. join us as we celebrate people who made giving their way of life. >>> hey, i'm anderson cooper. to all our viewers around the welcome here and happy thanksgiving. tonight we celebrate giving by look at people who give back all year-round, our cnn heroes. in the past we brought an all-star tribute. that broadcast is live from los angeles on sunday, december 11th at 8:00 p.m. eastern. be sure to join us for a remarkable night. if you're a fan of that show you're going to love tonight's lineup so let's get started. for the past five years we asked, our global audience, to tell us about people in our communities making a difference. your nominations led us to cnn heroes, enabling us to shed a spotlight on people rarely in the public eye. the result is inspiring. since 2007 cnn viewers found these rare individuals, submitting more than 40,000 nominations from more than 100 countries. from those thousands we've h

folks like demi moore, gerard butler, george lopez, holly robinson-peete and j.r. martinez. meet a new group of individuals. join us as we celebrate people made giving their way of life. >>> hey, i'm anderson cooper. to all of viewers, welcome. tonight, we're celebrating the spirit of giving by looking at people who give back all year round. our cnn heroes. in the past, this is the night that we brought cnn heroes an all-star tribute. this year, that broadcast will be live from los angeles on sunday, december 11th, at 8:00 p.m. join us for a remarkable night. if you're a fan of that show, you'll love tonight's show. for the past five years, we asked you to tell us about people in your communities who are making a difference. your nominations led us to cnn heroes. shining a spotlight on people who are rarely in the public eye. the result has been inspiring. since 2007, cnn viewers have helped us find these rare individuals cementing more than 40,000 nominations from 100 count countries. there all determined, resourceful, passionate and their missions run the gamut. sustaining

they were all just entranced in the work that means so much to them. >> actress holly robinson peete parents stay connected to kids through videotaped messages. >> the messages project is on to help children of incarcerated parents know they're loved. >> holly recently joined carolyn as she expanded her program into a fifth state, california. they visited a maximum security prison, and holly said it was an experience she wouldn't forget. back in 2008 you really got to know all the top 10 heroes first. >> he yeah. i'm totally star-struck and show up every year. i'm proud to be among them on that evening. >> you also ran the social suite at the last heroes, the tribute show. >> hosting the social suite was a thrill. what i loved was the fact that you had this mixture of the cnn heroes, and then you had celebrities. for instance, i remember tweeting with l.l. cool jay and talking about some of the people that he was getting a chance to meet. >> that's what's so interesting about the show. the people we're star-struck by are folks whose names aren't well-known, and you have to love carol