My name is Kimya Motley,
I'm from Covington, Georgia,
and my daughter is Corrine Williams.
Corrine is a senior in high school this year
and she has a really bright future ahead of her.
But, there was a time that she was very concerned,
and I was too, that she might not see the next day.
Eight years ago, I went to take Corrine to daycare center.
My ex-husband ambushed us,
and he shot me in my face.
And I'm trying to locate where Corinne is
in the midst of this, and to my astonishment,
he'd shot her in the head, as well.
(gentle music)
The doctors told our family
she wouldn't make it through 24 hours,
then she wouldn't make it through 72 hours.
And, miraculously, she's learned how to walk,
talk, feed herself,
you know, all over again.
And she is just a phenomenon.
I feel like I was determined
because I just didn't want anybody to be sad anymore.
So, I wanted to prove everyone wrong.
I just wanted a normal life,
where everybody is not looking at me
and saying, "Hey, you were shot",
or, "Hey, you can't do this and you can't do that".
I just wanted to be normal like everyone else.
When Corrine was five years old in kindergarten,
she would come home everyday from the bus
and we would watch Rachael Ray,
and she said that's why she wanted to start cooking.
Around second grade,
I would copy what she would make on TV.
And I would get it wrong,
but it would still come out delicious.
Congratulations!
Corrine has received a scholarship
and grants from Johnson & Wales,
and she is going to start in their baking
and pastry arts program.
When I found out I got accepted to Johnson & Wales,
I was so happy, I did a dance.
(Kimya laughing)
Because Johnson & Wales is so prestigious,
they are pretty expensive.
And so what we decided to do because this is her dream,
I set up a GoFundMe to try to raise funds
to help Corrine go to school.
Today I am going to be teaching you
how to make blueberry scones, with the lemon drizzle.
I'm very excited to go to culinary school
and one day I want to have my own show on Food Network.
I am so proud of Corrine,
and I am so excited about her future,
and I just want her to have everything
that she is supposed to have in this life.
What I would want to say to Rachael is,
"I think you're really cool,
"and I'd want to meet you someday."
(audience clapping)
Please welcome Corrine
and her beautiful mom, Kimya!
(audience claps and cheers)
(upbeat music)
Oh my God, you're such a rockstar.
Come on over here.
I love everything about you, I'm so psyched.
And this is true, years and years ago,
I ran a marketplace, and we were close to Johnson & Wales
and another big prestigious culinary school.
My favorite kids came from Johnson & Wales,
I think you're gonna be an amazing chef.
Are you psyched?
Yeah, I'm very excited.
Woo-woo.
We wanted to make sure that you can afford school.
You know, it would be kind of rude to have you come here
and not try and help out a little bit.
So, we've arranged to cover the entire 32,000.
(audience claps and cheers)
(uplifting music)
(audience claps and cheers)
So, are you surprised?
Did I freak you out?
I'm very surprised, very.
(audience laughing)
I think I freaked her out.
Don't cry, you look so pretty, don't cry.
All right, all right, all right.
So, since we started our brand,
a percentage of our sales, since day one,
has gone to support the healthy school food programs,
to give public school students an opportunity
to go into any career that's related to food.
We call our organization Yum-o!,
'cause little kids used to say Rachel Ray Yum-o!,
as if it were a part of my name.
But Yum-o! has a partner to help us do this,
to give the funds that we allocate to young people.
Through our scholarship program,
we get the partnership from the
National Restaurant Association Education Foundation.
They're the ones that take our Yum-o! organization dollars
and transfer the funds to the school of our choice,
in this case Johnson & Wales.
So, this is very exciting,
and we have to go get some tissues.
Yes, we do.
And wash our hands, I have to stop shaking.
That was so exciting.
(audience claps and cheers)