DECATUR - Christmas came on Halloween for Dove's domestic violence shelter.

Playing the part of Santa Claus was 33-year-old Decatur native Diana Slaviero, who was among more than 300 audience members who received a $1,000 debit card from Bank of America as part of Oprah Winfrey's Pay It Forward Challenge during a show that aired Monday.

"I wanted to come back and give to this community," Slaviero said during an interview Tuesday at the shelter. "I know how hard it can be for these women to come here with absolutely nothing."

She knows from talking with the women and working with the children during a summer internship she served at Dove 12 years ago while pursuing a bachelor of science degree in psychology at Illinois State University in Normal.

Invited to a taping of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Thursday morning by lifelong friend Katy Laustin of Chicago ("Our mothers grew up together in Nokomis," she said.), Slaviero arrived in Decatur on Monday, her car filled with canned food, towels and other donations from her neighbors in Naperville and her former co-workers at Illinois State's student counseling services.

After spending the night with her parents, Jim and Janet Slaviero of Decatur, she went shopping Tuesday morning with shelter employees Tricia Tanzyus, parent-teen specialist, and Freda Mathews, children's specialist.

Their shopping list included 30 pillows, 20 hairbrushes, 20 journals, 11 alarm clocks, four hair dryers, a case of deodorant and assorted other items such as wash and dish cloths, body lotion, hair gel, large combs, phone cards, thermometers, umbrellas, disposable training pants, mattress pads and nightgowns.

"Nothing glamorous - we deal in things to make clients feel respected and taken care of," said Cluney John, client services coordinator and Slaviero's supervisor when she was an intern. "It was exciting to make up a Christmas list for Halloween."

Slaviero spent the remaining $200 on a gift card so a student who works with her mother at Millikin University can buy a new suit.

"He has worked very hard to stay in school and get a good education," Slaviero said. "He will soon be interviewing for an internship and next May will be the first member of his family to graduate from college."

Slaviero herself just earned a PhD in counseling and psychology from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and is teaching a group therapy class to master's degree students at Lewis University in Romeoville. She is married to fellow 1991 Eisenhower High School graduate Brian Murphy.

Winfrey also gave audience members DVD recorders to document their work, so Tanzyus and Mathews passed it back and forth as the trio combed the shelves at Decatur's north Wal-Mart. No air date has been announced for the follow-up show, but participants were asked to return their recordings by Nov. 6.

"I can honestly say that every gift I've ever given has brought at least as much happiness to me as it has to the person I've given it to," the 52-year-old talk-show host told her audience. "That's the feeling I want to pass on to you."

Theresa Churchill can be reached at tchurchill@herald-review.com or 421-7978.