Beth Laitkep was a single mother of six children. Once the mother knew that she was succumbing to a long battle with breast cancer, she knew she had to figure out what would happen to her kids, who ranged in ages from 2 to 15.
Laitkep asked her best friend Stephanie Culley, who already had three of her own children with husband Donnie, to take in her precious babies.
Stephanie didn't hesitate. Her family grew from five to 11 in a single instant.
"Me, being a mother, I could not imagine having to ask somebody that question,” Stephanie told Rachael Ray. “She chose me because we were very similar in our parenting styles, and she knew that I loved her kids and that my kids loved her kids.”
Caring for a family of 11 put a huge financial strain on the family, and the Culleys wondered how they would ever send their kids to school. That's when Rachael Ray decided to surprise them.
The TV host left the entire family shocked with a cash prize of $90,000. Everyone was in tears.
“We’re grieving, but we know she’s with us… I’m not a saint. I’m not an angel. I’m not a hero. I just love these kids," Stephanie said. "To walk in the door and see all of them in the living room, dancing and playing and happy, that’s what it’s all about."
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