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GREENSBORO — Deciding to give President Barack Obama one of their farm-raised turkeys to celebrate Thanksgiving was the easy part for 10-year-old Mariama Ibrahim and her 8-year-old brother, Anwar.

The hard part was whether they could get the bird to Washington.

They thought about going on television to draw attention to their effort, said the siblings’ father, Jimo Ibrahim. Then, one of them suggested writing to the White House.

The letter captured the attention of Obama and U.S. Rep. Brad Miller. Miller on Wednesday will visit Mariama and Anwar at their Browns Summit farm and deliver a letter from the president, thanking them for their offer.

“That’s the type of kids that they are,” said the children’s mother, Princella Ibrahim. “They’re always giving.”

The Ibrahim children decided months ago to raise a turkey for the Obamas, their parents said. They are active in 4-H and have competed in turkey-raising at the State Fair for four years.

Jimo Ibrahim said his children received four turkeys from N.C. State in May for this year’s competition, but each of them is only allowed to enter one turkey.

So, they decided a third one would be White House bound.

The children used the Internet to find the White House mailing address and, with dad’s help, composed the letter.

In it, they told Obama about the turkey they were raising for him, their farm and 4-H. They also offered to make him an honorary member of their 4-H club, Browns Summit Broncos, the next time he was in the state.

They didn’t immediately receive a response, so they sent the same letter to Miller and Sen. Kay Hagan, their parents said. Anwar and Mariama attached photos of each of them holding a baby turkey, which is called a poult.

The letter and gesture excited Miller’s staffers, spokeswoman LuAnn Canipe said.

“They’re just the most precious kids,” she said. “I’ve never seen a cuter letter.”

Canipe said the White House delivered the president’s letter to Miller’s office last week. She would not reveal what it said before Mariama and Anwar read it.

Jimo and Princella Ibrahim said their children were touched by the election of the nation’s first black president and the fact that they are close in age to the president’s daughters, Sasha and Malia. Mariama attended the January inauguration with her church, her mom said.

The two remaining turkeys — the ones they entered in the State Fair are not returned to them — now weigh 30 to 40 pounds, said Jimo Ibrahim, an extension specialist at N.C. A&T. Mariama and Anwar did all the work, feeding them, maintaining the feed records and cleaning the pens. “They are particular about the animals,” Ibrahim said.

Mariama and Anwar also help with the chickens, goats and guinea fowl on their small farm. Mariama has aspirations of becoming a veterinarian, while Anwar wants to be a poultry scientist. He watches a lot of Animal Planet and wants every kind of animal.

“We are working on getting a peacock now,” Jimo Ibrahim said.

As for the turkey with the Obamas’ name on it, its fate is still unclear. The Obama family has other plans for the holiday, and Canipe said Miller doesn’t plan to take the bird off the farm. Mariama and Anwar are vegetarians.

The children do have plans for the last of the turkeys, though. They’ve asked that it be donated to a homeless shelter.
 

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 373-7080 or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com