Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

Option 1: As I sat back with my family thinking about the positive effects research has on families, I could only think of one icon that changed the lives of thousands. Erin Brokovitch brings back memories of Julia Roberts and the movie she played in called, “Erin Brokovitch” Erin Brokovitch is an inspiration to many for her efforts of curing a small town from pollution form their own Electric and Water Company. Erin, a single mother, obtained a job at local law firm in Cali when she stumbled across some files that gained her attention. Through Erin’s research, she found that Pacific Gas & Electric was poisoning the residents of Hinkley for 30 years by leaking Chromium 6 into the ground water. (http://www.brockovich.com/mystory.html). Her efforts resulted in her performing massive research of medical files for the town, and setting up anti-pollution lawsuits. It is efforts such as Erin Brokovitch’s that helped over 600 Hinkley residents to receive settlements and the company Pacific Gas & Electric to pay out over 333 million. The reason I share this information is because one single-woman stumbled across medical files and took it various efforts to research about the town of Hinkley, and help the residents from a poisonous substance that infected the pipeline which housed their drinking water. References Official website of Erin Brokovitch. (2010). Retrieved from (http://www.brokovich.com/mystory.html). Wikipedia.org. (Nov 7, 2012). Erin Brokovitch. Retrieved from. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erin_Brockovich).