No one is more a catalyst for encouraging Good Samaritans these days than Oprah Winfrey. Her Oprah show has transformed the TV talk show format to something akin to the revival hour: Inspiring, motivating, and crusading to bring positive change into people’s lives.
For instance, to provide scholarships to low-income kids she decided to fill the World’s Largest Piggy Bank by asking her 15 million viewers to save their change.
Months after Drop-Off Day, they finally finished counting it all… over one million dollars was given. And Oprah matched it dollar for dollar. Additional donations, including $1 million from Garth Brooks in exchange for promoting the CD Sevens, brought the total to $3,557,083.94.
In 1997, Oprah created the Angel Network, which showcases and encourages Good Samaritans.
Chuck wrote to the show about his wife Ruth, who he calls “the angel in my life.” After her wedding rings were stolen she began scrimping and saving to buy new ones.
But after hearing Oprah’s call, she decided instead to donate the money to the World’s Largest Piggy Bank. “I’ve had the benefit of a little college,” Ruth told Oprah during the show in January, “and though I’m not a professional, this is a way I could give something back.”
On the show, Zales jewelers came on and after donating $5,000 to the piggy bank, surprised Ruth with a new pair of rings! Afterwards Ruth said she’d discovered that “to get your heart’s desire, sometimes you have to give it up.”