{"id":25952,"date":"2025-11-20T12:53:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T17:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&p=25952"},"modified":"2025-11-20T13:28:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T18:28:42","slug":"a-hero-in-our-midst","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2025\/11\/20\/a-hero-in-our-midst\/","title":{"rendered":"A Hero in our midst"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Hillary Cohen \u201907 (left) with fellow assistant director and Every Day Action partner Samantha Luu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clark alum\u2019s nonprofit to feed the hungry earns CNN recognition<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As a longtime assistant director on television shows like \u201cThe Office\u201d and \u201cMad Men,\u201d Hillary Cohen \u201907 watched countless scenes play out on soundstages and outdoor sets across Los Angeles. But nothing affected her as deeply as the real-life scenarios she observed just beyond those creative workspaces, where unhoused people camped out on sidewalks and in abandoned lots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most disturbing to her was the fact that the actors and crew routinely dined on chef-prepared meals \u2014 steak, seafood, fresh vegetables, baked goods \u2014 with the gourmet leftovers tossed into the trash at the end of the day. The sumptuous aromas wafted through nearby tented communities, close enough for the residents to smell them, but with no access to food that was destined to become garbage. When she inquired about the waste, caterers insisted that giving away meals exposed them to potential lawsuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Cohen, this made no sense \u2014 and inspired her to change the dynamic. In 2020, she established the nonprofit organization Every Day Action<\/a>, which collects leftover food at filming locations and special events around Los Angeles and redistributes it to those in need of nourishment. Cohen estimates her organization has redistributed hundreds of thousands of meals, averaging about 120,000 pounds of \u201crescued\u201d food a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hillary
Hillary Cohen \u201907 (Kathy Schuh Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Her efforts have earned the notice of CNN, which has named Cohen one of the top five CNN Heroes of 2025<\/a>. The news network is now staging a campaign that lets people vote for the CNN Hero of the Year from among the top five. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a CNN profile of Cohen<\/a>, \u201cThe group picks up meals 24 hours a day, seven days a week from five to 10 locations per day, covering an estimated 90-mile radius in Los Angeles. The food is distributed to shelters, food pantries, nonprofits, community fridges, and homeless encampments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cohen isn\u2019t the first Clarkie to be recognized as a CNN Hero; Catalina Escobar<\/a> \u201993, L.H.D. \u201916, was named a Top 10 Hero in 2012<\/a> for her work with the most vulnerable in Cartagena, Colombia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n