Twenty years ago Oral Lee Brown promised a group of first graders in Oakland, California that they would be able to attend college on her dime. This year she fulfilled that promise made on the spur of the moment.
It started outside of the real estate office she owned in east Oakland when a little one asked for some money to buy food. Ms. Brown understood that kind of hunger, she herself had grown up poor in Mississippi. She decided then to adopt the first grade class at Brookfield Elementary School.
In 1987 she promised her 'babies' that she would send them to college.
ABC 7 reports:
"It's the one thing that I can give them that no one can take it away," says Brown.
Now Oral Lee isn't the first to offer to send a class to college. She is one of those rare individuals who's words have a huge personal sacrifice, she was only making $45,000 a year when she promised. She scrimped putting $10,000 into a trust fund for her little ones.
Brown did more than just put money away for the kids. She gave her babies spending money, tutors and love. She created a foundation that held fundraisers to add to her own money gifts. In 1999 her dreams came true, 19 of the original 23 students threw their caps into the air when they graduated from high school.
Some did fall, dropping out. One of Oral Lee's babies died in those mean streets at the hands of a killer.
Her dream has given her numerous honors including a hero award from the U.S. Secretary of Education. Still in the end it's seeing those babies achieve their dreams that makes it all worth it. Something she believes that all the 'babies' in the United States should be able to do.
"If all a child wants is an education and we in America can't give it to them, something's wrong with us," says Brown.
Walking The Walk; Oral Lee Brown Sends Oakland Class To College
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