Traditional Home salutes the modern woman who believes that while charity begins at home, it doesn’t end there. No matter how elegant her blouse, she is willing to roll up her sleeves and help.

This marks the fourth year that we have had the pleasure of introducing you to the five national recipients of our annual Traditional Home Classic Woman Awards. Every year we wonder how the next year’s crop can possibly equal the extraordinary nominees who have gone before. And every year we are humbled and impressed by the stories you send to us about women -- from a volunteer who went from bagging groceries on Thursdays to directing a community food bank to the founder of an ambitious global center for education and collaboration in science and technology.

Once more it was almost impossible to choose. What struck us most about the five women we ultimately selected was their refusal to see a problem and remain indifferent. Forged by the fire, each one of them suffered from problems that prompted them to seek solutions: separation from loved ones, illness, troubled children, suicide, the loss of a beloved neighborhood to crime. On the following pages you will meet our five recipients, who will be honored at a ceremony in New York City on November 10. We think you will be as impressed as we are with their stories, their energy, their insights, their humanity, and their service. Like us, we think you’re going to be touched by the ideals they share: Love is not onlysomething you feel, but something you do. 

Photographs: Michael Weschler
Text: Rebecca Christian
Produced by Marsha Raisch and Jo Ann McVicker