Local woman gets 'Big' gift; Karen Newman honored for work with disabled on reality TV show

By: JOSE CARVAJAL - Staff Writer | Saturday, April 7, 2007 12:45 AM PDT ∞

TEMECULA -- A community came together to honor one of its own Friday, a Murrieta woman who has spent the last three decades working with the disabled and creating a local place for them to learn, share and grow together.

And it was all caught on camera.

"The Big Give," an Oprah Winfrey-produced reality television show being filmed for the ABC network, wrapped up a week of production Friday at the Temecula Community Center during an evening ceremony to surprise and honor longtime Southwest County resident Karen Newman.

The show, according to producers, sends teams of philanthropically-minded contestants to small communities around Southern California and challenges them to find creative and resourceful ways to help others.

Two contestants, Brandi and Cameron, were tasked with making Newman's dream -- that a creative arts school for local developmentally disabled people be created somewhere in Southwest County -- come true.

By the end of the night, it appears they had.

"I am just in shock," an emotional Newman told the crowd gathered for the ceremony after learning that she and her family would be receiving more than $43,000 in cash and gifts in the form of donations from the community and that a location had been secured for her to create the school. "I am so thrilled to be living in the Temecula Valley."

Newman, 53, was the driving force behind the creation of High Hopes, a social recreation program run by the city for developmentally disabled people, and has opened up her home over the years to many of them.

She was inspired to create the program when her son Nick was born 27 years ago with Down syndrome. Since then, she has adopted two other sons, both of whom also have the developmental disorder.

"I think she deserves it," said Karen Ritter, the mother of a daughter with a learning disability who helped Newman create High Hopes 15 years ago. "She works hard for the kids -- not just her kids, but everybody else's."

Newman was selected for "The Big Give" after submitting an application for the show at the urging of Pat Montiro, whose daughter began attending High Hopes eight years ago.

"I said, 'You've just got to try this. Something feels good about it,'" Montiro recalled. "She's a special person and she deserves every bit of it."

As part of her application, Newman was to describe a dream that she would like to see come true. Her response was that she wanted to create a Southwest County satellite branch of Hope University, a creative arts school in Anaheim for disabled adults.

Though Hope University won't be coming to the area, Newman will get to create something similar on her own. Thanks in part to some large cash donations -- including $10,000 from Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone's office and $15,000 from Pechanga Resort & Casino -- she'll be able to do that.

She'll be able to create the school at a building being erected for the Musician's Workshop. The nonprofit organization has been looking for a new home, and founder and CEO Jon Laskin announced at the ceremony that High Hopes would be given space at a new structure being built in Murrieta.

Details about the Murrieta Valley Cultural Arts and Music Center, which had not been previously announced, were not available late Friday.

Newman was nevertheless excited after the announcement that she would be able to build on High Hopes.

"Dreams do come true," she said.

As for "The Big Give," the crew that spent the last week filming in Temecula was heading out of town late Friday. All of the show's contestants will be finding out today whether they advance to the next round and onto the next community, according to producers.

The show will likely air this summer or fall, the producers said.

As they presented Newman and her family with their gifts and announced that High Hopes would have a new place and some cash to expand, contestants Brandi and Cameron said they had been touched over the last week with the outpouring of support they got from the community.

"I hope after today, you all want to pay it forward and give big," Brandi said.

-- Contact staff writer Jose Carvajal at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or jcarvajal@californian.com.

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