Winners honored in NYC

Adopting a homeless teenager may seem like a huge commitment, but Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, the inspiration for the best-selling book and motion picture “The Blind Side,” said they get too much credit.

“All we did was love him,” Mr. Tuohy said of their adopted son, Michael Oher. “We allowed him to be who he was meant to be.”

That includes a career in professional football; Mr. Oher was picked in the first round out of the University of Mississippi by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 college draft.

The Tuohys were the keynote speakers at the fourth annual Community Leadership Awards dinner Sept. 14 in New York, which honored financial advisers who have made a difference in their communities through their charitable efforts. The awards were presented by the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation and InvestmentNews.

The 15 finalists and five winners who were honored were chosen from 300 nominations this year. Kandis Bates, president of the Invest in Others Foundation, said the honorees “have given hope to each us of here tonight, showing us the way to better our world, one community at a time.”

The foundation awarded $15,000 to the winners’ designated charities, up from $10,000 last year. The donation for each of the finalists’ charities was increased to $3,500, from $500.

Before Mr. Oher became part of the Tuohy family, he used to scrounge for meals in trash bins.

“Society had said he had no value,” Ms. Tuohy said. “We can do something. We can save someone. We all underestimate the power we wield.”