This past Mother’s Day, Almaz Gebremedhin won the Good Morning America Breakfast in Bed Contest with Emeril Lagasse along with the title of “Woman of the Year.” The single mother of five Penn State students is an Ethopian refugee whose husband left her shortly after the family immigrated to the US. She then began to work three jobs to make ends meet, one of which was at St. Vincent Health center in Erie, where her co-workers nominated her for the contest.

Her kind and modest character, inspiring story, and admiration of her children won her the title of “Woman of the Year”. One of Gebremedhin’s sons, Hayolom Tadesse, had this to say about his mother:

She taught us how to respect people. She taught us how to work hard. She taught us how to love unconditionally. She taught us how to give. She taught us never to quit and to follow your dream.

Check out ABC’s video of the presentation below.

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