Staff member answers Oprah’s call

In October, April Kigeya was checking the “Oprah Winfrey Show” Web site for last-minute reservations and saw that the show was looking for audience members who wanted to do something challenging for someone they didn’t know. She quickly answered the call.

Kigeya, the parent resources specialist in the university’s Office of Child Care and Family Resources, was among 300 people who appeared on the show. They were given $1,000 debit cards and video cameras and told to use the money to help others. The only stipulations were that they couldn’t spend it on themselves or their own family members, and they had to bring back video footage they filmed to show how they spent the money.

Kiyega, the mother of a 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter, knew she wanted to do something to help young children. She spread her $1,000 around and, in addition, solicited gift cards and baskets from businesses.

She paid for a one-month stay at Ronald McDonald House for the parents of a 12-year-old boy who is undergoing chemotherapy at UW Children’s Hospital for a malignant brain tumor. She also provided them with gift cards and gave Ronald McDonald House one, too.

She bought snow pants and books for some Leopold School students whose families couldn’t afford to buy those items, and she purchased special diapers for a young boy with bladder problems. His parents had no health insurance.

On the recommendation of the social worker at Midvale Elementary School, Kiyega helped a single mom who was homeless and pregnant with her fourth child. She contributed $200 toward a security deposit on housing for the family and bought two outfits for each of the children, as well as diapers for the unborn child. She gave the mother gift cards and a gift basket.

Kiyega also called the Boys and Girls Club of Madison and was told about a struggling single mother with four children. She provided her with several donated gift cards and a gift basket, too.

“It was a very heartwarming experience,” Kiyega says. “There are so many people out there who could use help, and it makes you realize that $1,000 really doesn’t go all that far.”

Winfrey invited the audience members to return with their video footage and their stories. Kiyega was there for the taping, standing close behind Oprah. A brief segment of her film was shown toward the end of the show, which aired on Nov. 27.