By Jeff Goldman:
A New Jersey woman who helped build a school and an orphanage in Nepal has been named CNN's Hero of the Year.
Maggie Doyne of Mendham Borough received the honor at a ceremony Tuesday night at the American Museum of Natural History, CNN said on its website.
Doye, 29, will receive $100,000 for her BlinkNow foundation on top of the $10,000 she got for being chosen as one of the 10 finalists.
"If you had told me when I turned 18 that I was going to be the mom of 50 kids, I would have told you that you were totally crazy," Doyne said in her acceptance speech Tuesday. "And I am. And to my kids, I love you so much. Don't ever forget how much I love you.
"And to the country of Nepal, thank you so much for loving me and accepting me as a daughter welcoming me into your country."
Her interest in aiding children in Nepal began when she took a backpacking trip there after graduating from Mendham High School in 2005. Doyne used $5,000 she saved from babysitting to buy land and eventually raised enough money to build Kopila Valley Primary School in Surkhet, Nepal.
The foundation also raised enough money to build a home where 50 children live as well as a women's center and a health clinic in a country that was struggling to rebuild following a civil war.
Doyne spends 10 months each year in Nepal. She will speaking at the Oak Knoll School in Summit at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
www.nj.com
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