Nov 20, 2009 5:59 pm US/Central
Local Organizations Help Youth With Oprah's Gifts
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Oprah Winfrey gave the Merit School of Music in Chicago a check for $100,000, which helped several thousand low-income students get free or low-fee music lessons.
Merit School of Music
Part of the Oprah mystique is her generosity. Many organizations here in Chicago are helping people thanks to the support they've gotten from the talk show queen. CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot spoke with people from two places that benefited from Oprah's kindness. Both used the money to help young people.
Duffie Adelson looks at a picture hanging on the wall inside the Merit School of Music in Chicago. In the framed photo, Adelson, the Merit school principal, is standing next to Oprah Winfrey. In Adelson's hand is a beautifully wrapped package. Inside the red box with gold ribbon, is a check for $100,000.
"It was an absolutely transforming moment for Merit. It was the most exciting moment I can remember," Adelson said.
The school provides music lessons at more than 60 locations in Chicago for mostly low-income students. It was eight years ago when Adelson appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. She says the talk show host's kindness helped several thousand students get free or low-fee music lessons.
"The effect lasted and went way beyond that, however, because it really helped us," Adelson said. "It was really an endorsement of Merit and everything Merit stands for, and everything we mean to the community."
Dr. Rick Kittles is with the University of Chicago Cancer Research Center. Kittles' department saw firsthand how Oprah's generosity can change young lives.
"Oprah's Angel Network, giving us a grant for $65,000, was just great. It allowed us to really do a lot as it relates to our outreach efforts with the students," Dr. Kittles said.
The money was used to put on the First Annual Nutrition Knowledge Bowl last December. Students from six South Side high schools competed.
The game show format helped kids learn about how healthy food choices can reduce the risk of getting cancer. Kittles said Oprah's grant opened a lot of students' eyes.
"The grease and cholesterol. The amount of salt on the foods. The students were really shocked at some of the things that they'd been eating," Dr. Kittles said. "A lot of it was sort of this inherited behavior from their parents, and then from their parents."
More than 500 students took part in the Nutrition Knowledge Bowl.
Meantime, the president of the Merit School of Music says donations of musical equipment and money poured in after her appearance on the Oprah show. The impact was so tremendous that the school was able to purchase a new location in the West Loop, not far from Harpo Studios.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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