Ashburn Mom Takes Home Oprahs Car

Posted: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 11:30 am | Updated: 11:27 am, Wed Oct 19, 2011.

It may have been the Oprah Winfrey Show that inspired Ashburn mom Linda LeFebvre to open her home to whoever needs refuge or a place to stay, but she certainly never expected to receive anything for it.

"Her show and the Angel Network taught me about the ability for one person to make an impact, and that it doesn't have to be worldwide, it can be right here in our community," LeFebvre said.

Last November, LeFebvre ended up in the audience of Oprah, and among the recipients of Oprah's final favorite things-a list of items that Oprah herself uses. Unbeknownst to LeFebvre, the audience was receiving the largest gift total ever given out by Oprah, including 2012 Volkswagen Beetle.

Last week, LeFebvre, her two daughters and two Slovakian boys living with her, gathered at Lindsay Volkswagen of Dulles off Rt. 28 to pick up her final gift-complete with a license plate that reads: TX OPRAH.

"It is just so amazing," LeFebrve, who acknowleged the logistics of juggling her own children and all her "adoptees" is difficult, said. "I still can't believe it. This car is a godsend for me."

Seeing a taping of Oprah Winfrey's show live was on LeFebvre's bucket list-along with the bucket list of her best friend of 30 years. Every time LeFebvre had business in Chicago, the friends would make a trip out of it and hope to get tickets to see Oprah. But every time she would find the show on hiatus. So when the final season of Oprah came around and audience members had to win tickets, her friend convinced LeFebvre to submit her story, telling how Oprah had changed her life.

One day on Oprah, LeFebvre saw a show where a woman gave a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to a child who was eating out of her garbage. She told him to come back if he ever was hungry, and soon he began bringing friends. Eve! ntually the woman's home turned into an after-school center for needy children in her neighborhood.

"For me, that day changed everything," LeFebvre said. "I told my children if they ever heard of a friend or someone at their school who needed help, or who was acting out, to reach out. Because there is a reason their acting out, and maybe there is something we can do."

Now, LeFebvre's home has become a place for any child or teenager in need to stay. She has taken in children who are visiting from other countries, who are here to study or play sports, and she has even taken in children who have runaway and have no where else to go.

"What I really do with them is life coaching," the mother of four said. "I talk to them about budgeting, how they are going to pay their way in the world. [The boy who ran away] I told him he could make it on his own, but it was probably going to take working three jobs to support himself without an education. He heard that and immediately went home."

LeFebvre is committed to giving back--adopting a family at Christmas instead of buying presents for themselves and helping out anyone she or her children learn are in need.

"She inspired me to do this, and because of that I have had such an amazing string of kids come through my life," she said. "She showed me it doesn't have to be magnificence to make a difference."

After submitting her story in August, LeFebvre received a phone call from an Oprah producer in October to interview her. She was told not to get her hopes up that she could be selected to view a taping. Then the first week in November, the call came-she had been selected along with the guest of her choice to be in the audience for the taping the Tuesday of the week before Thanksgiving.

With two shows taped a day, the audience was told they would be seeing Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and Suze Orman-some of Oprah's most famous contributors. Waiting in line for their taping, they saw the audience before they leave the studios with bags of items; th! ey had r eceived Oprah's favorite things.

"And there were people in line who were mad. They were actually mad that they weren't going to get anything," LeFebvre said. But the surprise was on them, because Oprah did two favorite things tapings that day. And when she revealed the surprise, the audience went wild.

"I literally flew up like an insane lady," LeFebvre said. "The woman in front of me was sobbing. She had lost her job and had no money. She had pulled together pennies and change to find enough money to travel to the Oprah show."

Among the items received by the 270 members of the audience at LeFebvre's taping were diamond earrings, an iPad, a Coach purse, sequined Ugg boots, a 10-piece Le Creuset cookware and clothing, among others. Then Oprah brought out her own 2011 red VW Beetle, telling the audience they couldn't get that car. Instead they would be receiving the brand new, redesigned 2012 Beetle.

"Everyone went wild," LeFebvre said, adding, "Oprah paid all the taxes. Volkswagen took care of everything. We don't have to pay for anything."

All of the members of the audience LeFebvre was in were Oprah's "Ultimate Fans," people who had given back to their community in some way or another. And even with the car and all the other gifts, for LeFebvre, the biggest reward of her trip was the hours she spent with the other audience members.

"We sat in that room for two hours before we went to film and I talked to them," she said. "They have some amazing stories, have done some amazing things. I wish I had more time with them. They were inspiring."