Black Sextuplets Ignored

[first.friday@JUNO.COM (Gerard Louison)]

I hate to beat a dead horse into the ground, but here is more info from
the papers.  Here is the Associated Press article I was referencing
earlier (there is a color picture apparently at the URL (web address)
listed below).  Even though the person forwarding it says it is ABC News,
it was an original AP story, which is important if U want to follow-up on
the story at some later time by accessing the AP web site.


Gerard Louison (fitai@juno.com)
Proud Penn State alum
Active and Involved in our Community
(303) 230-3937

--------- Begin forwarded message ----------
-----Original Message-----
From: Mika El Heru <MikaEl@MAATinUS.com>
To: Afrikan Kings & Queens <TheAfrikanVillage@MAATinUS.com>
Date: Tuesday, November 25, 1997 9:49 AM
Subject: Black Sextuplets Ignored


This is a good article.  ABC News finally picked up the story of the
Black Sextuplets.  The hyperlink is to the ABC News article and a great
picture of the babies.  Our networking works for us when we make it
work.  We are Powerfilled people and must continue to communicate
Powerfully (using the drums) - Networking for Power.

Mika El


Received: from www.capcity.com
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 97 16:16:30 +0000
From: "Information Man" <infoman@capcity.com>
Subject: Black Sextuplets Ignored - Associated Press


This article can be viewed on the web and includes a picture of
the family at: 
http://www.abcnews.com/sections/us/thompsons1124/index.html

====================================================

Family Watches as Iowa Seven Receive Help;
Black Sextuplets "Ignored"

By Deb Riechmann

The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 


Few people stepped up to help Linden and Jacqueline Thompson 
when she delivered six babies, the first black sextuplets born
in the United States.  But free baby food, car seats and diapers 
lavished on newborn septuplets in Iowa prompted donations this 
week in Washington for the Thompson babies, born last May--one
girl was stillborn, but the surviving four girls and a boy, are
healthy and learning to crawl.
                    
"I was struggling here with my five babies and nobody really 
acknowledged us," Mrs. Thompson said Saturday.  "I'm not bitter 
about it. I'm so happy for the lady in Iowa and how the community 
really came out to help her. Unfortunately that didn't happen for 
me."

While corporate America embraced Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey's 
septuplets born Wednesday, corporations largely ignored letters 
soliciting baby products for the Thompson children. The babies 
only received some clothes and a few donations.  That began to 
change Friday after the media reported the discrepancy. 

Scales Are Still Uneven
"Procter & Gamble called me yesterday," Mrs. Thompson said. "They 
apologized for the mix-up. They're going to donate diapers."  A
Washington child care center will provide free day care for the 
Thompson children for five years, and a hotel owner has offered the 
family--or parents sans children, if they prefer--a free vacation.

Still, that pales in comparison with the support given to the
McCaugheys of Carlisle, Iowa. The McCaugheys are getting a 15-seat 
van to transport their seven newborns. When the Thompson babies 
were born, Sisters In Touch, a community organization in Washington 
that has raised about $7,000 for the Thompsons since July, wrote 
letters to the nation's top 100 auto dealers in hopes of getting the 
family a new automobile. Two dealers wrote back, but nobody offered 
a vehicle.

The McCaugheys have been promised a 16-year supply of apple juice 
and applesauce, power for heating and cooling, car seats and 
strollers. Letters written on behalf of the Thompsons to local 
churches and government officials yielded only summer clothes for 
the Thompson five.
                  
In Iowa, several companies are working to build the McCaugheys a 
house. In Washington, a man has offered to let the Thompsons lease 
a six-bedroom home with an option to buy for about $165,000, said 
Lynda Bugg, Sisters In Touch chairwoman. To complete a deal, the 
family needs about $8,000. A trust fund Bugg's group set up last 
month has a balance of only $700. 

Thompsons Do Feel Blessed
"The Thompson family is a humble and spiritual family. They will 
tell you they feel very blessed. But they feel left out," Bugg said.
President Clinton called the McCaugheys in Iowa, said Bugg, but in 
Washington, "He didn't even lean out the window and holler 'Hello, 
Mrs. Thompson.'"

Mrs. Thompson said the donated money has helped the family buy needed 
supplies. But the children need more: toys, clothes, shoes, highchairs 
and two more cribs. Right now, the babies bunk in three cribs that 
crowd the couple's three-bedroom apartment. They have a two-seat 
stroller.  They need a three-seater so the Thompsons can take the
babies out all at once.

"My dream is to have a nice house for my family--a nice five- to 
six-bedroom house with a big yard for them to grow in," Mrs. Thompson 
said.  


Copyright 1997 by The Associated Press. All Rights
Reserved.                                 

 
Peace,

Bro. Mosi Hoj
Info Man

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