(Eds: Repeating after dropping words from para 2)By Lalit K JhaWashington, Dec 8 (PTI) Two Indian Americans – SamirLakhani from Pittsburg and Mona Patel from Texas – are amongthe 10 finalists for the prestigious CNN Heroes of the Yearaward.
Lakhani and Patel are among the finalists for the annualaward to be given on December 17.
Lakhani's non-profit recycles discarded bars of soap fromhotels across Cambodia and distributes it to villages in need,CNN reported.
It all started in 2014 when as a college student, Lakhanitraveled to Cambodia where he experienced first-hand that formany in Cambodia a bar of soap is a luxury they cannot afford.
"I remember quite vividly a mother bathing her newborn ina basin filled with laundry powder and water. It is an imageI'll never get out of my mind," Lakhani told the channel.
While still attending the University of Pittsburgh,Lakhani started the Eco-Soap Bank, the report said.
The organisation now has four recycling centres acrossthe country, providing jobs to 35 local women. The used barsare sanitised and remolded into new bars or melted down intoliquid soap.
According to Lakhani so far, more than 650,000 peoplehave benefited from the group's soap and hygiene education.
"What I love most is that we are killing three birds withone stone," Lakhani said. "We are keeping waste out oflandfills, employing locals and spreading soap all over thecountry," he added.
Mona Patel's non-profit aims to help amputees rebuildtheir lives by offering peer support, resources andrecreational activities.
The San Antonio Amputee Foundation, aims to help amputeesrebuild their lives. The group offers peer support, educationand recreation opportunities, as well as financial assistancefor basic home and car modifications and prosthetic limbs, itsaid.
Every month, 30 to 60 amputees get together to sharesstories and testimonies of strength and resilience, the reportsaid.
"When somebody becomes an amputee, manoeuvring throughthe system is sometimes just scary," Patel, a below-kneeamputee, said.
"I think the big catalyst of me doing what I do to helpthe amputee community is because I lived it," she added.
In 1990, she walking to class at Cal Poly University whena drunken driver slammed into her. She was 17.
"I flew up about 12 feet," Patel told CNN. "And then hepinned me between his car and a metal railing, and that's whatsmashed my leg and my foot." Patel's body, and future, wereforever altered.
People can vote for "CNN Hero of the Year" online and thewinner will receive USD 100,000 for their cause. PTI LKJ AMSAKJAMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.