Four-year-old, family raising money for Oprah’s orphans
OTISFIELD – Three days before Christmas Cora May Hooker was playing with her mother, sister and brother on the living room floor.
The 4-year-old’s attention was suddenly grabbed by African children appearing on television.
Libby, her mother, said they were watching the Oprah show. It showed a tape made in December 2002.
The children in a village were receiving gifts and food supplies from Oprah.
The Hookers: Cora, Libby, Sadie, 2, and Cyrus, 6 months, stopped playing.
“One segment show an 8-year-old girl visiting her mother in a clinic,” Libby said. “The mother was sick with AIDS.”
The show reported that the mother died in March 2003.
“What’s the matter with her mama?” Cora asked.
Libby had to explain that the mother had been ill and could not get the medicine she needed.
“Her mom died?” Cora asked.
“That brought tears,” Libby said. “I was crying. It was very touching, sad. I didn’t realize that the show was going to get as in depth as it did.
“It upset Cora and she wanted us to give enough money to help,” Libby said.
She had to explain to her daughter that it would be impossible for the family to give enough to help.
Cora then said they could “make” the money for them.
Libby gave her some ideas and Cora suggested collecting bottles.
“Me and grammy and mommy are going to pass the bottles to get money to pass to Oprah to pass to the kids,” Cora said between bites of a Granny Smith apple on Friday. “Then they wrap the shopping stuff for them, the dolls, the clothes.”
How many bottle will Cora have to collect to help?
“I think 17,” Cora said. “18!”
Libby and her husband Mike, helped Cora set up an account with Ward’s Redemption Center on Route 121 in Oxford, adjacent to Polly’s Variety Store.
There the Hookers, or anyone else wishing to donate, can drop off the bottles under an account in Cora’s name.
“Mike and I teach our kids about philanthropy,” Libby said. “Christmas is about giving. If Cora is going to focus on an activity, this is a good one to learn on.”
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