Quintuplets Receive School Supplies From Sorority
By Mary Wells
WI Staff Writer
Thursday, September 6, 2007
The Thompson quintuplets were presented book bags, pens and pencils as part of the national Operation Big Book Bag project of the Phi Sigma chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated.
“We had a lot of school supplies to deliver to them,” said Dawn Ellis, co-chair of the Social Action Committee for Phi Sigma.
“I had a small crate full of glue and people sent Target and Staples gift cards so they could choose their own notebooks and other school supplies. Lots of people came and dropped off supplies and we made arrangements to deliver them.”
Ellis said she sent a letter to Jackie Thompson telling her about the project and offering to donate school supplies to her quintuplets.
“The children loved it and were very excited when they received the supplies,” said Thompson. “I was surprised that they wanted to do that. Everything helps and we are so grateful.”
The quintuplets are now 10-years-old and in the fifth grade. The four girls, Emily, Octavia, Stella and Anne-Marie attend Kipp Academy. The one boy, Richard is in special education at Option Public Charter.
“They just returned from two weeks at summer camp and we are leaving in the morning to go to Disney World in Orlando for the Labor Day weekend,” Thompson said last week. “We are all so excited and so grateful.”
The trip is sponsored by Jack and Jill of America, a national organization who has sent them to camp for two weeks every summer for the last three years.
Thompson said she and the children are still grieving over losing her mom, their grandmother, last year at this time.
“She was my best friend and gave me lots of support, even though she lived in New York. My family lives in New York but many live in Trinidad and Tobago and they took my mother back there for burial. My kids miss her so much for they have never been there and ask many questions about it,” she said.
She said she loved and misses Dr. C. Delores Tucker, chairwoman of The National Political Congress of Black Women, because she was the first one who reached out to the family after the babies were born.
When the six babies were born on May 8, 1997, few people stepped up to help the family, even though a national brouhaha was made over a White family who had seven babies. Corporations and the public responded overwhelmingly to help them while ignoring the Thompson babies, whose mother did not use fertility drugs to produce them. One of Thompson’s babies, a girl, died.
“Dr. Tucker was the first to come to our aid and arranged for Fannie Mae to provide a home for them, Chevrolet to provide a van, and Howard University to provide scholarships for college when they reach that stage of schooling,” Thompson said.
“I was struggling here with my five babies and nobody really acknowledged us like they did the other families that had multiple births with the aid of fertility drugs. Dr. Tucker was one of a kind. There is nobody like her. We miss her so much. She was the first to come to our aid.”
Thompson said that help has dropped off since Dr. Tucker has died. She admits that she is now driving a borrowed car that needs repair and is not an adequate size.
“They are pretty normal kids. Emily aspires to be a dentist, Richard a fireman, Octavia a doctor and Anne-Marie wants to be an actor. She loves drawing and things like that. Stella has a passion for animals and wants to be a veterinarian,” Thompson said.
“All of them want a puppy, but I tell them a puppy will have to wait a while until we get more room and another car. We are trying to pay taxes and repair the car now. We can’t afford a dog,” she said laughing.
