Guillaume Morand is a Hero of Character in the news right now. He's breaking the law so that he can protect religious freedom in Switzerland.

Here in the United States, the Constitution protects our freedom of religion. Do you know which Amendment guarantees that? (You can find the answer at the end of this post)

At the end of 2009, the people of Switzerland voted to change their constitution. They added the following words: "The building of minarets is prohibited."

So then why did Guillaume Morand break the law?

Because a minaret is a building that Muslims use for prayer. Guillaume believes that everyone should be treated fairly, no matter what their religion is.

So what did he do?

He built a minaret in his hometown of Bussigny. He got some plastic, some wood, and gold paint, and turned the chimney of his sneaker warehouse into a minaret (almost as big as our 21-foot Flame of Liberty, the centerpiece of the National Liberty Museum). Just to make sure the authorities saw that he was breaking the law, he installed spotlights on the roof and pointed them directly at the minaret.

There are 150 Muslims who live in the town of Bussigny, but he's not one of them. He doesn’t even practice a religion.  What he wants is for his country to treat everyone fairly. When he saw this discriminatory law, he knew he had the power to stand up to it. 

"I don't have the power to do much,” he says, “but I wanted to give a message of peace."

(If you guessed that freedom of religion is protected by the 1st Amendment, you’re right! But that’s not the only one – check out the 14th Amendment, too.)

Did you know that this year, Philadelphia had the world’s largest Martin Luther King Day of Service? It's not the first time, either. In fact, this city organized the very first King Day of Service in 1996.

That year, not even the worst blizzard in Philadelphia history could stop volunteers from lending a hand - 1000 people turned out to help with dozens of service projects. This year, we had at least 1000 service projects! The 15th annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service brought more than 70,000 people together to carry on Dr. King’s legacy.

MANNA and African Daughters of Fine Lineage worked together to feed hundreds of homeless men, women, and children. The Comcast Corporation and Philadelphia Reads partnered up to spread literacy, training volunteers to become reading coaches. The Red Cross and the Crispus Attucks Association hosted a blood drive together. Students from the Perelman Jewish Day School and the Al-Aqsa Islamic Academy collaborated for the 9th straight year, making “Dignity Kits” with clothing and toiletries for the needy.

How did you serve?  Send us your stories so we can spread the good news!  Here are some projects that other readers have told us about:

The Interact Club at Cinnaminson High School in New Jersey invited the Red Cross workers to come talk with the students about working in shelters.  The Interact Club also organized an activity where students made care packages and wrote personal greetings for troops overseas.

Kylan Watson, a 2008 National Liberty Museum Young Hero, wrote to tell us about an event at the Nazarene Baptist Church in the Nicetown section of the city. After a presentation by the Philadelphia Police Department about the effects of drug abuse, Kylan participated in a panel discussion about the state of the African-American family.  There was a spirited discussion of generation gaps, single-parent households, and the responsibilities African-Americans have to each other and to society as a whole.

Kylan also mentioned an important point - you don't have to wait for next January to serve your community. We are challenged to serve every day of the year. Want some ideas for a great new service project? Would you like to find a project near you? For all this and a lot more, check out the President's new web site, serve.gov.  And let us know what projects you are working on!

The world lost a wonderful woman recently.

Do you know the story of Miep Gies? It’s because of Miep's courage and kindness that we've come to know the story of Anne Frank. Let’s take a moment to remember her - she was a real Hero of Character!

Otto Frank needed help. He was from Germany, but was beginning a new life for his family in a country called the Netherlands. You see, a new leader had taken over Germany. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party were some of the worst bullies the world has ever seen. The Nazis preached hatred of Jewish people.  They began to imprison them in ghettos and concentration camps, and later killed millions of Jews from across Europe.  The Franks were Jewish – they had to get away!

Miep got a job with Mr. Frank in 1933. He was a good boss and a very nice man. A few years later, though, the Nazis took over the Netherlands, too, and began to capture Jews there. They made it a crime, punishable by death, to help anyone who was Jewish. Like all bullies, the Nazis wanted people to be too scared to do the right thing.  But Miep wouldn't be bullied.

By 1942, things were very bad for the Franks.  Otto had tried to escape to the U.S. with his family, but the U.S. Government didn't start rescuing Jews until 1944. So Miep formed a team with her husband Jan, and her coworkers Victor Kugler, Johannes Kleiman, and Bep Voskuijl. They worked together and helped the Franks hide in a secret attic, with another family named the van Pels and a man named Fritz Pfeffer.

For two years, the Franks, van Pels and Mr. Pfeffer remained safe in their attic hideout. Anne had been keeping diaries, and she wrote about what it was like to hide. Living like this wasn’t easy, because everyone was under a lot of stress. If they were caught, the Nazis would try to kill them. Anne knew this, but she believed that everybody, even people who do evil things, have goodness inside of them. If only they would let that good come out!

In 1944, the Nazis found the secret hiding place. Johannes and Victor and all the people hiding were arrested.  Miep wasn’t, though, and she found Anne’s diaries and hid them. This was very brave - later, she said she should have burned them, because the diaries were proof that she had disobeyed the Nazis.

Miep never saw Anne again. After the Nazis were defeated, Miep gave the diaries to Mr. Frank. Of the eight people who hid in that attic, he was the only one still alive. Reading the diaries made him sad, but they also made him happy as he realized the importance of Anne's words. He published Anne’s writings as “The Diary of a Young Girl” to share her thoughts with the whole world.

Because of Miep’s generosity, compassion, and courage, a little piece of Anne is still alive with us today. One of my favorite quotes tells you a lot about Anne, but it also describes Miep. In fact, it describes every Hero of Character:

“People will always follow a good example. Be the one to set a good example, then it won't be long before the others follow... We can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straightaway... And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!”

Miep Gies didn’t want to be considered a hero, but what else to call her? She made the world a better place, and helped keep Anne Frank alive, in body and in spirit. Thank you, Miep, for being so brave and so kind. We miss you!