The sale of the car benefits Hope for Limpopo, an agency that raises money for two charities in South Africa that benefit AIDS orphans and women and children who are victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence. Watch video
Jo Ann Churchill, of Easthampton, is all smiles Thursday at Northampton Volkswagen as she gets behind the wheel of her new Volkswagen Beetle for the first time. She won the car on Oprah Winfrey's last TV show. WEST SPRINGFIELD – Oprah Winfrey evidently doesn’t approve, but Nancy M. Amanti, of Westfield, has re-gifted one of the talk-show host’s most famous “Favorite Things” anyway.
Amanti’s plan is to help the charity that first got her invited to Winfrey’s Chicago television set for one of her final syndicated TV shows.
This particular “Favorite Thing” is a “Tornado Red” 2012 Volkswagen Beetle gleaming on the showroom floor of Fathers & Sons Inc. and the matching Coach-brand handbag dangling from the driver’s side mirror. Amanti took possession on Thursday and immediately sold the car to the dealership for $20,895.
“Any extra money I have I throw towards Hope for Limpopo anyway,” Amanti explained. “I wouldn’t know what to do with all of these things.” (Those other things, by the way, included Ugg boots, an iPad and LeCreuset cookware; “Favorite Things” became an annual treat for lucky Oprah fans when she gave away gifts of the “things” she loves to her audience members.)
Nancy Amanti, of Westfield, looks over the brand new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle she received as one of Oprah Winfrey's last ever Favorite Things episodes. Looking on is Damon S. Cartelli, of Father and Sons, Inc., the dealership that handled the delivery. She and her colleague JoAnn Churchill, each got a bug for their charity work with Hope for Limpopo an agency they started that on behalf of women and children in South Africia. Fathers and Sons paid Armanti for the car and will now sell it.Amanti, Jo Ann Churchill, of Easthampton, and Churchill’s late husband Vaughn founded Hope for Limpopo in 1998 following the Churchills’ Peace Corps service in South Africa. Named for the Limpopo province of South Africa, the group raises money for Vhutshilo Mountain School, a school for AIDS orphans and the Thohoyondou Victim Empowerment Program, an agency that supports and advises women and children who are victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence.
Their good work got them invited to the taping of one of the final episodes of the Oprah Winfrey Show last November. At the time of the invitation, Amanti said, all they were told was that it was going to be one Winfrey’s final syndicated shows before moving to her own cable network and the show’s purpose was to honor “Hometown Heroes.”
“But then the curtain opened up, (and) we found out is was going to be a gift show,” she recalled.
During a break in the show, Amanti asked Winfrey if she could give away the gifts or sell them to benefit their charities.
“The room got silent,” Amanti said. “There was this sense that she was about to impart this life lesson. Oprah told me that in order to give, you first have to learn how to receive gifts.”
So much for the lesson.
Amanti sold the Beetle to Fathers & Sons, and the proceeds are going to Hope for Limpopo.
Damon S. Cartelli, president of Fathers & Sons Inc., said he was happy to work with Amanti and benefit Hope for Limpopo.
Churchill, who picked up her Beetle (a silver version) at Volkswagen of Northampton, said she doesn’t know yet what she’ll do with her car, donate it to the Limpopo effort or drive it in gratitude as Oprah would want. She currently drives a Honda CV, a model she says is good for driving in New England winters.
Delivery of the Beetles that came courtesy of Oprah to all her audience members from that show were being made across the country as part of a national promotion sponsored by Volkswagen of America.
The 2012 Beetle is a redesign. The cars get 22 mpg in the city and 29 highway with a 2.5-liter engine and have a sticker price of $21,655.
Churchill and Amanti spent time in South Africa this summer looking in on the progress both the school and the victim’s organization are making. The Thohoyondou Victim Empowerment Program now has a home for the victims to live.
“Before, they had to stay in the same room with their offender,” she said.
Amanti said there is still much to do. The school has 20 or more students who have no financial sponsorship. “We need to keep that school open,” Amanti said.