Celebrities Volunteering and Giving Back to the World—Oprah Winfrey

“I don’t think you ever stop giving. I really don’t. I think it’s an on-going process. And it’s not just about being able to write a check. It’s being able to touch somebody’s life.”

She is an American proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. She is Oprah Winfrey—the self-made, one of the most powerful women in the world. Born under an unmarried teenage mother, living under rural poverty to wear dresses made of potato sacks, suffering years of abuse, and having to watch her son dying shortly after birth at the age of 14, Winfrey understands hardship like no other. Despite all the adversities that could have easily let down anyone, Oprah survived. And now, as a billionaire and the richest self-made woman in America, she is furthering he reputation for her devotion to philanthropy.

1. The Angel Network

“Inspire people and make a difference in the lives of others”

In 1994, The Oprah Show presented a girl named Nora and her project, Penny Harvest. She and other children were collecting pennies to help various organizations. Inspired by Nora’s little effort to collect up to $1,000, Oprah said, “If you could do that, I wonder what I could do?” Thus launched The Angel Network, a non-profit, volunteer served, public charity. It started with a small project to provide college scholarships for 150 deserving students. The same year, 1997,https://fuzeus.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php viewers of Oprah’s show gathered to help out Habitat for humanity to build 200 beautiful new homes. Pretty soon, this charity was present in any place that needed help. You can find out more about The Angel Network’s work on History of Angel Network

2. The Oprah Winfrey Foundation

“My young friends, doors are opening for you—doors of opportunities that were not open to your mothers and fathers—and the great challenge facing you is to be ready to face these doors as they open.”

The Oprah Winfrey Foundation does not accept donation from anyone. This is run exclusively by Oprah Winfrey and her endowment and its current asset amounts to a total of $172 million. It was first established to fund Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, which is a girls-only boarding school that officially opened in January 2007 in south of Johannesburg, South Africa. The mission of this academy is to provide a nurturing educational environment for academically gifted girls who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

In October 2007, a female school staffer was accused of physically and sexually abusing students. As soon as she heard the news, Winfrey flew to South Africa to meet with school officials and parents. Fortunately, the mess was handled well under a thorough investigation and Winfrey reportedly provided each girl with a cell phone programmed with Winfrey’s personal phone number. In the statement she said, “It is my deepest hope that the accused is brought to justice and that this serves as a reminder that any time a child has the courage to step forward, it is our duty as adults to listen and take immediate action.” To her immediate and effective remedies to the incident, Merlenes Davis of the Lexington-Herald Leader sent her praise.

But I so admire how Winfrey handled the mess after she heard about it. She pulled no punches, revealed all the ugliness and promised the parents of those girls to do a much better job. The good coming out of this, however, is that those girls, who all have come from extreme poverty, have some idea of what a powerful woman looks like and what she stands for. So do those who no longer work at the academy.

3. Oprah and Bill Clinton

Nearly thirteen years after leaving the White House, former president Bill Clinton is still working to change the lives of people around the world with his foundation, which supports causes such as treating HIV and AIDS. Winfrey is also a big supporter of the Clinton Foundation, which is also supported by Elton John, Donald Trump, Barbra Streisand and Anne Hathaway.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed, “Oprah Bill,” also known as the National Child Protection Act. Oprah’s Bill creates a national registry of convicted child abusers, which relates to Oprah’s personal history of having been abused as a child. At the signing of the National Child Protection Act, President Clinton invited Oprah Winfrey to speak.