ESPN Sports Humanitarian Awards honor community game-changers

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- ESPN hosted the second annual Sports Humanitarian Awards on Tuesday night to honor those who have used sports to positively impact society.

The awards honored athletes who are activists in their communities.

Four categories were recognized during the event - Sports Humanitarian of the Year, Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year, Corporate Community Impact and League Humanitarian Leadership.

Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul, who runs the Chris Paul Family Foundation, won the Sports Humanitarian of the Year Award.

"We have a very strong passion for kids. You know, kids are so unfiltered. You have an opportunity to impact them early," Paul said.

The San Francisco Giants won the Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year Award. Bank of America won the Corporate Community Impact Award. The NBA won the League Humanitarian Leadership Award.

"Sports has an unbelievably loud and effective voice in our society," Disney CEO Bob Iger said.

Disney is the parent company of ESPN and ABC7.

Sports stars weren't the only individuals honored at the event. Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Leroy Petry, who saved his fellow Army Rangers in Afghanistan from a live grenade, was also in attendance.

"There's heroes all around us every day that sometimes never even get the recognition," Petry said.

The money raised during the awards was donated to the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund at the V Foundation.

"You see a lot of people are here tonight for one reason. Everybody has been touched by cancer," ESPN sportscaster Sean McDonough said.

Cancer survivor and Olympic champion Scott Hamilton attended to show his support for the event.

"A part of my experience as a cancer survivor and as someone who has lost a parent to cancer, it's how can I raise the bar? How can I make a difference in the cancer community? How can I change it? I'm a five-foot-nothing short bald guy. I want to change the world," Hamilton said.

Watch the 2016 ESPY Awards hosted by John Cena on Wednesday, July 13 at 8 p.m. on ABC.