Cd'A grandmother to help 'Survivor' runner-up
DAVID COLE/Staff writer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years, 6 months AGO
<p>Shirley Ellis hopes to help raise money for "Survivor: Cagayan" runner-up Yung "Woo" Hwang, whose honesty and hard work in the reality TV show game inspired her. On Thursday, she opened an extra-large post office box in Hayden, and hopes the mail — with money for Woo — starts to pile up soon.</p>
"Survivor: Cagayan" finalist Yung "Woo" Hwang might get his money yet.
Shirley Ellis, 78, is fighting for the popular California martial arts instructor and now reality TV star.
"Mr. Woo played a game like a really good guy," Ellis said Thursday, the day after the season finale of the popular series.
"I was just really upset last night," she said. "I could not believe the jury let Tony win."
That's New Jersey police officer Tony Vlachos, the season winner who now gets a $1 million prize after the jury picked him over Woo.
"(Vlachos) lied on his father's grave," Ellis said. "I don't want kids thinking it's OK to lie, cheat and steal for money."
She knows it's a cutthroat game, but was inspired by Woo's more honest style of play.
Ellis did more than wake up the next day and complain about the ending, however.
She went down to Mountain West Bank in Hayden, opened a savings account to raise money for Woo and deposited $50. She then went to the U.S. Post Office on Honeysuckle Avenue in Hayden and got the biggest post office box available.
The extra-large box cost her $197.
"Did I mention that I'm a 78-year-old grandmother on Social Security?" Ellis said. In other words, it's a big expense on her budget.
As a Coeur d'Alene resident, she drove up to the Hayden post office because the name "Hayden" will be easier to spell than "Coeur d'Alene" for anyone who wants to mail money.
Interested in giving to Woo? Here's where to mail it: Ellis, P.O. Box 2350, Hayden, ID, 83835.
"If every good person in America sends $1, I think Mr. Woo gets his money," Ellis said.
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