Monday, March 28, 2011

A tv show touches and inspires

(Note: Hover over the red vocabulary words to get their definitions.)


I was flipping channels last night waiting for a show to start when I came across "Secret Millionaire" on ABC. I'd seen one episode of this show before and really admired the idea. In each episode, a millionaire is sent to an impoverished community, charged to find people making a difference, and in the end, is given the chance to give a small portion of his or her fortune to help the philanthropic efforts of the people he meets.


I missed the start of last night's episode, so I didn't catch the millionaire's background or the kind of business he was in, but I believe he spent a week on Skid Row, a dilapidated area of Los Angeles filled with the homeless walking the streets by day and sleeping on it by night. In the course of a week, the millionaire's view of the area changed. He had a difficult time approaching people at first; no one wanted to talk to him (and the cameras that were following him). Eventually, however, he made acquaintances and felt safer in general.


I like the show because it's touching and inspiring. It shows us that there are people around us who care, and many of them don't even have much for themselves. They give what they have and what they can, even if all they can give is their time. Sometimes, we get so caught up in our own lives that we don't even want to hear about the plight of the needy. I know I'm guilty of this. My hope is that shows like this (and there's a whole slew of them now) will urge us to do something and give what we can, even if it seems like we have nothing to give.

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