Calgary Herald

OPRAH WINFREY’S SHOES STAR AT LETHBRIDGE FUNDRAISER

- VALERIE FORTNEY vfortney@postmedia.com Twitter.com/valfortney

Oprah Winfrey is one of the most famous women on the planet. So it’s no surprise that, when Linda Kinnell received a gift in the mail from the talk show maven/ philanthro­pist last week, she was more than a little pleased.

“There were two pairs of shoes, Alexander McQueen pumps and Manolo Blahnik sandals,” says Kinnell. “Both are European size 41,” about a size 10.5 North American.

Those two pairs of shoes will play a starring role Saturday at a fundraiser at Lethbridge’s Galaxy bowling alley, as the sixth annual Party With a Purpose collects funds for a new home for girls in Tanzania called The House of Hope.

The project is by the charity Bridges of Hope (thebridges­ofhope.com), founded by Burkina Faso native and Lethbridge resident Daniel Zopoula; Kinnell, an Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) ambassador, serves as its Tanzania project manager. (For details on how to bid on the shoes, go to Kinnell’s personal page, mammalizzi­e.blogspot.com).

“They come autographe­d by Oprah,” says Kinnell of the shoes that look as if they’ve only been worn once or twice. “She donated some a couple of years ago and a woman from Calgary bought them. They weren’t her size but she wanted them for over her fireplace.”

Just how a mother of three and grandmothe­r of six came to be the recipient of shoes from media royalty — she’s also one of only 277 people Winfrey, who has 35.8 million followers of her own, follows on Twitter — has its roots in the early 1980s, when Kinnell was at home with young kids. “I never missed an episode,” she says of the Oprah Winfrey Show, which ran from 1986 to 2011. “I was a huge fan.”

In 2000, Kinnell, inspired by Winfrey’s work with such projects as the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, sat down and wrote out a bucket list. “Visit an orphanage in Africa,” was second on the list.

“I also wanted to go see an Oprah show,” she says with a chuckle of the No. 1 item. “I never imagined that we would meet, let alone become friends.”

Following her idol’s belief that “it’s not about giving, it’s about giving yourself,” in 2008 Kinnell travelled with her daughter Lisa to Tanzania, where she volunteere­d her time at the Karim Orphanage in the city of Arusha. That first, life-changing visit has turned into 19 over the past decade, with Kinnell and her team of volunteers working on various projects in that country.

In the fall of 2010, Kinnell’s work in Tanzania was featured at the premiere of the 25th and final season of the Oprah show. At the show’s end, Winfrey announced that another guest on that show, John Travolta, would be flying her and fellow audience members on an all expenses paid, 10-day trip to Australia.

“Here we were, climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge with Oprah and Gayle,” she says of the star and her best friend, Gayle King. “We also had lunch with her almost every single day.”

Since then, she visited with the mega-star after her Calgary performanc­e in 2013, dined with her in Los Angeles and was also invited for a visit to Winfrey’s South African home.

“It’s kind of cool to wake up and see a private message from Oprah,” says Kinnell. “She’ll say, ‘I’m cleaning the closet, what can I send?’”

Kinnell credits family, friends and community with helping her make those bucket list items a reality. These days, she takes interested individual­s along on trips to the east African country.

“It’s a journey of a lifetime,” says Kinnell, who currently has a Tanzanian teen named Salma living with her while she studies business at Lethbridge College. “You can’t help but fall in love and want to help.”

So, any chance Kinnell will borrow those designer shoes from her famous friend, prior to parting with them for a good cause? “Oh, gosh, I don’t think so,” she says with a laugh. “I’m a size 8, so they’re a little too big for me.”

 ?? DAVID ROSSITER ?? Bridges of Hope Founder and CEO Daniel Zopoula and Linda Kinnell, an Oprah Winfrey Network ambassador, are organizing a fundraiser for the organizati­on this weekend in Lethbridge. A featured item will be two pairs of Oprah Winfrey autographe­d shoes.
DAVID ROSSITER Bridges of Hope Founder and CEO Daniel Zopoula and Linda Kinnell, an Oprah Winfrey Network ambassador, are organizing a fundraiser for the organizati­on this weekend in Lethbridge. A featured item will be two pairs of Oprah Winfrey autographe­d shoes.
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