Oprah’s Big Give

I have a love/hate relationship with Oprah. Sometimes I love to hate her, and other times I hate to love her. It mostly stems from a “Do you know who I am?” incident that happened a few years back involving Oprah and a boutique somewhere. Sometimes she just comes off as having this superiority complex. But whatever, she has earned it I suppose.

What I do like about Oprah, and it’s a very redeeming quality, is the amount of charitable giving she’s involved in. Her latest foray into giving back to those who most need it is a new show on ABC called Oprah’s Big Give. The premise: Individuals are given a few thousand dollars and a person in need. Using brains, resources, and whatever other means possible, these people try and give to their person in need as much help as they can, usually in the form of a monetary donations.

I think Sunday was the first night it was on. There were nine struggling people who were reaping the benefits of Oprah’s generous heart and her helpers passing out the money. The person that’s story was the most awesome to me was this African American woman with two teen-aged children. Her husband was abusing her, so one night she packed up her kids and took off, which left her homeless. This woman was probably a homemaker when married without many job skills, so she had a hard time finding a job. When Oprah’s people came and found her, she said that she doesn’t want a handout. She just needs someone to give her a stepping-stone so she can get back on her feet and make her own way. If more people in this country had an attitude like that instead of a defeatist mentality, we’d be in much better shape.

Oprah’s people hooked her up! $20,000 scholarship for her children to attend college, a year’s rent totally paid for, a brand new car, a pretty substantial check, and a money and financial planner so this woman can get on her feet and budget her resources – the best part of the gift. The lady was just so overcome with joy and relief. A beautiful story with a very happy ending.

When Oprah does good, she really does good!