MOV’s Got Talent: Ellie Yeater

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - If you learn anything from this story about Ellie Yeater it’s that the MOV’s got talent.

Ellie Yeater does it all. She sings, acts, competes in pageants, debates, and then some.

While she may do a lot, there’s one thing that connects everything she does - helping people.

She said, “My parents always instilled the factor in me that there are people out there who have lower qualities of life who are just as good as people as you and I are so they’ve always enforced that I help everybody else when I can.”

One of her main causes is fundraising for The Arc. If you aren’t familiar, it’s a local organization that works with people with intellectual, cognitive, and related developmental disabilities. Her connection to this cause is personal.

She explained, “I have a sensory processing disorder so I had to go and use their services for speech therapy and I would not be where I am today without them.”

One way she’s raised money for The Arc is selling a glamper she built and decorated. It raised $8,000.

The other glamper Ellie made raised money for a friend she met through theater.

She remembered, “He was diagnosed with brain cancer not too long after we finished Scrooge the Musical and I wanted to help so I raffled off one of the campers that I’ve made to donate to him and we made over $13,000.”

That brings us to theater - which she says is where her heart is. But, in typical Ellie-fashion, it isn’t just about her. It’s about the connections she makes.

She said, “Somehow I have a herd of young kids who call me mom and they call me for stuff, even not theater-wise. They’ll call me and go momma Ellie I need help with school, momma Ellie I need help with that and that’s something that’s really special to me.”

With all that Ellie does for others, it’s only fitting that she’s under the spotlight.

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