The Saving Our Daughters organization is honored to have Keke Palmer as an influential and empowering co-founder of the Saving Our Cinderellas on Broadway program, now in its 4th year.
It all started in 2014 when Keke and her mother Sharon Palmer, invited underprivileged girls from the Bronx and Queens NY, to the Broadway musical, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Keke was the first African American actress to play Cinderella on Broadway. Her role and the girls experience inspired the arts program.
Fast forward to 2019, Keke has thousands of girls who have now become Cinderellas across the country learning all about the arts in their neighborhoods with their Celebrity Godparents mentoring them on the way.
On Friday Feb 1st, Keke’s mother with her Publicist, Ms. Tianna Robinson, coordinated with Good Morning America Day’s, Producer, Ms. Alyssa Scaglione to bring the Cinderella program to the studio to surprise Keke during her “GMA Strahan & Sara” interview episode.
Selected seniors and 5th grade Cinderella participants from Thurgood Marshall Academy (TMA) in their pretty blue and pink shirts, showed up and showed out! After meeting and prepping with Alyssa, the girls were found their courage to participate in the show. Their on-set experience involved participating in the pre-show with stating positive affirmations to the audience, hyping the audience up with their dancing skills and participating in the “Ask Me Anything” segment of the show. Cinderellas asked their Co-founder Keke a few program questions, after a surprise introduction by the co-host Strahan and Sarah to Keke!
Keke smiled and yelled out with excitement, “those are my girls” holding back her tears of joy from the surprise, because she had no clue that there were there.
The special day continued for Keke and her Cinderellas after the show. The girls celebrated Keke with beautiful roses & floral arrangements by Starbright Floral Design; as well as edible art desserts designed Chocolate Couture by TRACI. The chocolate Cinderella slipper was a hit.
Thurgood Marshall Academy Cinderella Seniors Reflections:
Diana Caines
“It was a thrilling experience. When I got there, I was a bit intimidated by the size of everything, but the staff at GMA made me smile and slowly calm down. By the time we actually got to the part where we were introduced, I wasn’t nervous anymore and was actually confident. Meeting Keke was an honor. She honestly is down to Earth and I didn´t feel alienated by her fame. Instead, she filled the air with laughter and joy by her presence. I will never forget this experience.”
Nicole Payamps
“It was an amazing opportunity to not only be in a TV studio but to also meet an inspiring role model like Keke, not only to me but to all the young girls”.
Christabelle Aniekwe
“It was a thrilling experience. Saving our Cinderellas has brought me incredible opportunities and this has been my favorite so far. Keke Palmer was extremely sweet and looked genuinely happy to see us; it felt really good seeing her cry tears of joy, she was very inspiring.”
Aye Bah
“Meeting Keke and being on a set was an opportunity I don´t think I would have gotten anywhere else. I am so happy I got to talk to such an amazing role model and step out of my comfort zone.”
Sanaa Donalds
“Meeting Keke and being on the show was a great experience. It is something I won’t ever forget.”
Crystal Diaz- Maldonado
“Meeting Keke was a wonderful experience. I was especially excited to see her reaction to us showing up on the studio of Good Morning America. Seeing someone on television and meeting them in person are two distinct feelings. Getting to see her in person definitely made me feel special, especially getting a hug from her. This is thanks to Saving Our Cinderellas for allowing me such opportunity.”
Thurgood Marshal Academy Lower School Cinderellas
Brandi
It felt amazing meeting to meet Keke Palmer because have been always saying I wanted to meet her, and I finally did. She has really inspired me!
Marley
“It felt awesome meet Keke Palmer because she is a great leader and she helped me believe anything is possible.”
Leslie
“When I met Keke Palmer I was very excited and inspired. Keke is a role model to me and to be able to meet her made me happy. But she also inspired me on camera and when I heard everything she said, I felt confident and even more inspire by her.”