VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — They saved lives, helped strangers in moments of crisis and spent thousands of hours giving back to their communities.
On Wednesday, 12 people whose stories News 3 shared as Everyday Heroes were brought together at Kemps River Cinema Cafe in Virginia Beach for a ceremony recognizing the difference they have made across Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina.
“We value what you guys are doing in the community ... making Hampton Roads a better place,” News 3 anchor Kurt Williams told the honorees. Williams, who has introduced viewers to many of the Everyday Heroes, hosted Wednesday's event.
The stories represented in the room showed just how many forms being an Everyday Hero can take.
Among those honored was Vickie Kohler, who saved a boy who ran into traffic in North Carolina, and Kelly Watkins and Kassie Jedding, two Virginia Beach YMCA employees who helped save a man after he went into cardiac arrest on a treadmill.
There was a mail carrier who saved a dog from drowning in a swimming pool and an Applebee's server who jumped into action when a customer began choking.
Other honorees were recognized for service that has unfolded over years rather than in a single life-or-death moment.
One helped turn mothers' bridal gowns into garments for babies through Babies Headed for Heaven. Another has logged more than 6,000 volunteer hours at the Virginia Beach Animal Care and Adoption Center.
A couple was recognized for starting an inclusive church group for people with different abilities, while another honoree, who was working as a valet, helped save a man after a medical emergency sent his vehicle into the water.
The group also included a nurse whose work supports postpartum mothers struggling with their mental health.
But after the stories of all 12 honorees were shared Wednesday, one name was called for the event's top honor: Jackie Meeks.
She's 12 years old.
“I’m feeling very, like, nervous, kind of,” Jackie told News 3 after the ceremony. “I was, like, not expecting this.”
Williams first introduced News 3 viewers to Jackie in 2025, when she was 11 years old and volunteering at a lemonade stand in Chesapeake.
At the time, Jackie had a simple answer when Williams asked why raising money for children with cancer was so important to her.
“Because I know it's supporting the kids who have cancer,” Jackie said.
Jackie understood what those children were experiencing because she had been one of them.
In July 2024, after experiencing fatigue, chest pain and a fever, Jackie underwent blood work that showed critically low platelet and white blood cell levels. Her family soon learned she had anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a rare and aggressive cancer.
Jackie underwent treatment at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, including six weeks of chemotherapy.
During that difficult period, her community rallied around her. A lemonade stand held in Jackie's honor raised more than $22,000, and her mother, Katie Meeks, told News 3 at the time that seeing that support gave her daughter a boost during treatment.
After becoming cancer-free, Jackie decided to turn the support she received into support for other children.
“I knew they were supportive very much when I was going through treatment, and I want to give it back to them,” Jackie told Williams in 2025.
And Jackie hasn't stopped.
She has continued holding lemonade stands to support CHKD, including another one earlier this summer.
Her fundraising efforts brought in $26,462.59 in 2025. This year, Jackie has raised about $10,600 so far, not including another $1,000 she received from Southern Bank during Wednesday's ceremony.
Jackie said she hopes what she's accomplished sends a message to other young people.
“Even though you're younger than most people, you can still make a difference,” she said.
Her mother hopes people of any age take that message with them.
“I hope it just makes people continue to, however it may be. If it's a lemonade stand, maybe it's giving blood,” Katie Meeks said. “However it is that you can help someone, knowing that it doesn't matter your age, and you can have a team supporting you and just go after it because it really does make a difference.”
Katie said Wednesday's recognition was especially meaningful because September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
She also remembers what it was like to be the parent sitting in a hospital room with a child fighting cancer. Seeing a child like Jackie now healthy and thriving, she said, can offer hope to another family still going through that fight.
“It makes me proud that she's sharing her story because I know in the hospital room ... to be able to see, you know, a child well and thriving, it's what you need too to know you're going to get through it,” Katie said.
Jackie's recognition also came with a $2,500 grand prize and a donation to a charity of her choice.
The Everyday Hero nominees typically receive $300 from Southern Bank. In 2025, the bank increased that amount by $125 as it celebrated its 125th anniversary.
For Jackie, though, Wednesday's award isn't the end of what she wants to do.
The 12-year-old who once relied on doctors and nurses during her own cancer treatment told News 3 she already has a career in mind.
“When I'm older, I want to be a pediatric oncology nurse,” Jackie said.
For Katie, her daughter's journey — from a hospital room, to lemonade stands, to standing alongside 11 other Everyday Heroes — shows that helping someone else doesn't have to begin with a grand gesture.
It can start with something as simple as a glass of lemonade.
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