Kelli Wright is an incredible mom from Chicago
who has two kids, Christopher and Amiya.
Despite experiencing a lot of personal loss this past year,
Kelli volunteers every day at a food bank
and spends the weekends with her kids bringing food and supplies
to the Chicago's tent cities on the south side.
We wanted to do something special
for Kelli and her family, so we're
going to check in right now with them.
Kelli?
Hi, Kelli.
[SCREAMING]
[CHUCKLES] Hi, there.
Oh my God!
Hi!
Oh my.
Hi!
Oh my God--
I know--
--Ellen, it's you!
I know you weren't expecting me to be
on the other end of the Zoom, but I wanted to meet you.
So COVID has had an impact on your family,
starting with losing your job.
Tell me what happened there.
OK.
Well, I'm sorry, Ellen.
I'm so sorry.
Well, you know what?
When COVID first started, I was working for Hertz
at the airport here in Chicago.
So we got a memo saying, hey, if you guys volunteer
to take off work, then we won't have to lay anyone off.
So I said, well, I'll go first, because I
knew some of the other situations with my co-workers.
And I said, well, I'll go first.
And then I'll be able to come back first.
So I was off work for about two weeks.
And then they came in and said, hey,
instead of you guys coming back, it's
going to be a temporary layoff.
But you'll be able to come back to work.
I'm like, OK, temporary.
OK.
So two weeks later, we got another call.
Well, it's a permanent layoff, you guys.
So at this point, just try to draw on your unemployment.
And I'm like, OK.
So I filed for unemployment, couldn't get anything.
So I just started working different apps.
So I was doing Uber Eats, Amazon Flex, Instacart,
just trying to make ends meet to make sure I could provide
for them and just pay bills.
So OK.
So even though you're going through that,
you're struggling, you're prioritizing
giving back to others.
And you volunteered every day at a food bank.
And I know, when you were getting up at,
like, 5:00 AM to deliver food, Christopher, you
wanted to go with her and help, right?
Yes, because I don't want my mom going out there
at 5:00 in the morning by herself.
So I wanted to wake up and help.
Yeah.
Somebody's got to protect her.
You've got to show them your guns.
Yeah, he [INAUDIBLE]--
[INAUDIBLE]
--he beat me to the door, Ellen.
[CHUCKLING]
So Amiya, I want to start with you.
Tell me what your mom means to you.
My mom-- she's very inspirational.
She inspires me to want to help others.
If I see a friend or someone I know that's in need of my help,
I try my best to help them.
She's always taught us that helping others is
very important, and I want to be so much like her
when I grow up.
[APPLAUSE]
Well, you already are.
And Christopher?
My mom-- she inspires me to-- if I see somebody in need,
I want to help them immediately.
If they need a blanket, I want to get a blanket from somewhere
and am going to give it to them.
Look what you-- look at that.
That's incredible, Kelli.
[APPLAUSE]
And the great news is, you do have a new job that you love,
right?
Yes.
So I was working seasonal for Chicago Public Schools here.
And during the pandemic, I'm like, OK,
I have to find something else, because we
weren't able to go back to work with the seasonal position.
So I got a call for a full-time position.
I work with special-ed children, and I love it.
Every day, they inspire me to learn more about the field.
And the teachers I work with are awesome.
They're encouraging me to go back to school.
They're like, you've got this.
You can't tell me you're new to this field.
You should be a teacher.
So I'm looking into going back to school
so that I can teach as well.
That's amazing.
And you know what?
You didn't mention-- so you lose your job,
I think, in April-- something like that, right?
And then--
Yes, ma'am.
Then you lost your grandmother, Patricia.
And the two of you--
right around the same time.
She passed away from COVID right around the same time.
So you lose your job.
You lose your grandmother to COVID.
And I was going to say, how is your family holding up?
But look at you.
You're just resilient people.
Thank you.
We're trying to keep it together.
I did lose my grandmother and my job a week apart.
But Ellen, I've just been able to just be strong and be there
for my mom and her siblings.
I reach out to my cousins every week, if I can,
just to make sure they're OK.
I don't want to be the family that, when
we lose our matriarch, everyone separates.
So I've been trying to just keep everybody lifted and happy.
We're used to having these big parties with each other
because we all live on the same block.
So I'm just trying to be as strong for them as I can.
Well, you're doing it.
[APPLAUSE]
We have to take a break, Kelli.
We're going to come back.
I want to talk to you a little bit more.
We'll be right back.
Kelli, I know one of your favorite parts of my show
is when we surprise people, so I want to surprise you right now.
How would you feel about-- how cold is it outside right now?
It's 35 degrees out there.
OK.
Well, then just go out for a minute.
You don't have to be for long, but maybe you all want
to go out just for a minute.
OK.
[DOOR SQUEAKING]
Is there a truck?
Oh, there it is.
OK.
[SCREAMING]
So what you have in there is everything that we gave away.
All right.
So you have a $1,500 Visa gift card, $300 H&M, $650 Amazon,
$800 Target gift card--
bunch of stuff in there-- about $30,000 worth of giveaways.
And also, there's a gold box under the TV.
Do you see the TV in the back with a gold box?
[INAUDIBLE] go on inside.
OK.
Look at that gold box under the TV.
Oh.
Shutterfly loves how you've given back to the community.
They want to give you something, too.
So if you open that, they're giving you $10,000.
[SCREAMING]
[APPLAUSE]
[INAUDIBLE]
Thank you so much, Ellen!
Thank you [INAUDIBLE].
You three are amazing.
Thank you for everything you do.
Thank you for being so selfless at a time
when you could easily just feel sorry for yourself.
You're going out and helping other people.
That's so sweet.
I want to thank Pharrell, Ashe, and Joe Buck.
I want to thank all of you for watching.
I feel the love in this room.
I send it back to you.
Go out.
Let's spread this around in the world.
Can we?
Bye.