By Laura Lane
"Oprah's an amazing person, and I wanted to be in her presence," said Arline. "But my husband gave up trying to get me to the show after eight years. But my daughter, Felicia, whom I'd always wanted to see the show with, never gave up. I think it was fate that she and I ended up on the show."
Felicia Cilibrasi of Merrick, a Cornell graduate who is associate director of the dean's office at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University, and her parents were invited to attend a taping of the show. They were told in advance that an opportunity to give back, the "Pay It Forward Challenge," would be discussed with audience participants, but other than that, they had no idea what to expect.
"There were 316 members in the audience, and we were all given a debit card equaling $1,000 and a video camera," said Cilibrasi. Audience members were told that they were required to do something for the community and videotape it. They had one week. "We decided we could have the greatest impact if we pulled our efforts together," Cilibrasi said. "I turned to my parents, and we agreed to do something nice for the Ronald McDonald House. Working there as a volunteer was an experience I held close to my heart."
From age 16 to 18, Cilibrasi volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island in New Hyde Park, where families can live while their children are treated for cancer. She had chosen the volunteer opportunity thinking it would look great on her college résumé. But the experience ended up becoming much more.
During her first tour of the House, Cilibrasi met an 11-year-old girl who had lost her leg to cancer, and they quickly formed a friendship. Felicia's mother, a teacher, collected funds to buy a prosthetic leg for the girl, making her life a bit more tolerable. Cilibrasi and her parents never forgot the children at the Ronald McDonald House. "It's such an amazing place," Cilibrasi said. "When you walk in there, you can feel the love."
The $3,000 from Oprah gave the family another opportunity to help the House. Donations poured in after Cilibrasi and the Kramers shared their good news about Oprah's seed money. Nearly everyone they ran across said they wanted to donate, too. Before long they had collected more than $69,000.
"We thought that some people might match the money Oprah gave us, but we never expected the amazing response," said Cilibrasi. "It's been so inspirational doing this. I have a renewed faith in the community and the kindness of the human spirit."
Cilibrasi is Robert Kramer's stepdaughter, but he thinks of her as his own. "She's only my stepdaughter in name," he said. "She's a special kid, very sensitive. We've never banded together, the three of us, to do a charitable effort together. This was such a great experience for us."
Cilibrasi and the Kramers weren't the only Merrick connections involved in the Oprah challenge. Cilibrasi sought a donation from Merokean Bob Stewart, vice president of business development at CVT Prepaid Solutions, a company that manufactures calling cards.
Cilibrasi said, "I had decided to split the initial Oprah money three ways: for the House's Share a Night Program, to renovate one of the rooms to become a lactation room, and to buy prepaid calling cards," Cilibrasi explained. "The cards are so important for people staying at the House to be able to communicate with the family members who stay home to work or take care of the other children."
Video camera in hand, Cilibrasi went to CVT, since the House had purchased calling cards from the company before. She requested $1,000 worth of cards. Stewart offered to match the card purchase, and donated $2,100 to the Share a Night Program, for which people can sponsor rooms at the Ronald McDonald House.
This was only the beginning for Cilibrasi and the Kramers, who continued to receive donations. They decided to host a breakfast as a thank-you, which Stewart attended.
"We've always supported the Ronald McDonald House on a smaller scale, like toy drives," said Stewart. "But we were so moved by how the donations started to snowball for Felicia and the Kramers that we decided to raise additional funds for them. We committed to an additional $25,000. Knowing that Felicia is from Merrick made it a little bit more special, like we're a community working together."
Cilibrasi and the Kramers will leave for Chicago soon to return to Oprah's show. They aren't sure what will happen during the show -- whether Oprah will pick the most interesting donation stories to air, or if some of the video footage will be telecast. "Even if we don't get picked, we're satisfied that we made a difference," said Arline Kramer. "Being a retired teacher, this experience has reminded me of how important it is to do something that really matters."
Comments about this story? LLane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
