‘Has A Huge Heart And An Incredible Work Ethic’: Oak Forest Hero

OAK FOREST, IL — When times are tough, heroes emerge. We all know someone who's making a difference right now as we live through unprecedented and changing times.

Here at Patch, we've launched an initiative to help recognize these heroes making a difference in their communities. Together with Ring, we’re working to let all your neighbors know about these outstanding people and their stories.

This submission comes from Kurt DeGroot who nominated Ryan Ballard of Oak Forest. DeGroot and Ballard are friends and coworkers.

Name: Ryan Ballard
State: IL
Hometown: Oak Forest
Hero's job: Fire/emergency response
Relationship to nominee: Friend and coworker
Reason for recognition: Ryan is a firefighter/paramedic for the Oak Forest fire department. Ryan
also is an executive board member for Project Fire Buddies. Project Fire Buddies is 100% volunteer
and he does all of the paperwork, website design, and majority of the ordering.
One thing to know: Ryan has a huge heart and an incredible work ethic.

Thank you for all you do, Ryan!

>> Do YOU have a local hero you would like us to know about? Share their story here. Read about other heroes from across Illinois here.

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