"Secret millionaire"
I have watched several episodes of a British TV reality series called "Secret Millionaire," which I found very touching. In each episode a genuine millionaire agrees to go back to his/her roots in a poor neighborhoood and to live on a small allowance and pretend to be poor. They usually get a poorly paying job (waitress, shopkeeper) and have to manage to make ends meet for a week or two. They are encouraged to go around in the neighborhood and meet people, but the people they meet have no idea that they are rich and that they might be helped by this apparently poor person that they have befriended. If they meet people who are trying to help others and need financial help to do so, the millionaires are encouraged to give a them a donation and to follow up later if they want to. In several cases this worked out very well, and the scenes where the millionaires donated tens of thousands of pounds to the poor unsuspecting person were truly moving.
In one episode, a man who made millions as a contractor, but came from very poor beginnings, went back to an economically deprived area in Salford, and met the local people. At the end of his time he donated money and building help to expand a local community kitchen and to renovate a 100-year old youth center. Another man, an Indian who grew up in the north, went back to where he started and then helped local people who befriended and helped him thinking that he was an unemployed laborer.
It should be emphasized that the millionaires are not required to make any donations and what they choose to donate and to whom is entirely up to them. Also, the people they meet, although often poor, are not necessarily unhappy, and most of them are actually donating their time and limited resources to helping others.
One case in point, a woman who runs a dance school in the heart of the East End. She has been unable to obtain Government or local funds and has been subsidizing it herself from her own pocket for years. This has become such a burden that they might have to vacate their premises, and she and her husband might lose their house. The lady millionaire (worth 15 million pounds) who just came across their club by chance, volunteered there, and was so struck by their genuine enthusiasm and dedication, that at the end of the week/show, she donated a considerable sum to ensure that they could retain their own premises and she helped the Director and her husband to buy a new house for themselves. She also took a liking to one of the most talented dancers, and decided to support her career until the age of 16 by a series of grants that could pay her fees so she could study professionally. It was great to see their reactions to these totally unexpected outcomes.
Another example was a young black woman who by herself started a self-help group for impoverished young people who needed help. She provided them with minimal practical aid, such as painting equipment or courses, often out of her own pocket, and she was certainly not well-off. Because of threats from drug dealers, she was forced to leave the neighborhood where she worked and move back into her mother's house, with husband and three kids. The lady millionaire, who encountered her working from a table in the restaurant where she was a waitress, then bought her a lap-top, gave her a donation towards her work, and helped her buy her own home. What a great outcome. As she said, coming from the East End herself, she felt she needed to give something back! A lesson for us all.
PS. I understand that there is now a US version of "Secret Milliaonaire" but they have turned it into a TV show, and lost a lot of the personal aspects.
In one episode, a man who made millions as a contractor, but came from very poor beginnings, went back to an economically deprived area in Salford, and met the local people. At the end of his time he donated money and building help to expand a local community kitchen and to renovate a 100-year old youth center. Another man, an Indian who grew up in the north, went back to where he started and then helped local people who befriended and helped him thinking that he was an unemployed laborer.
It should be emphasized that the millionaires are not required to make any donations and what they choose to donate and to whom is entirely up to them. Also, the people they meet, although often poor, are not necessarily unhappy, and most of them are actually donating their time and limited resources to helping others.
One case in point, a woman who runs a dance school in the heart of the East End. She has been unable to obtain Government or local funds and has been subsidizing it herself from her own pocket for years. This has become such a burden that they might have to vacate their premises, and she and her husband might lose their house. The lady millionaire (worth 15 million pounds) who just came across their club by chance, volunteered there, and was so struck by their genuine enthusiasm and dedication, that at the end of the week/show, she donated a considerable sum to ensure that they could retain their own premises and she helped the Director and her husband to buy a new house for themselves. She also took a liking to one of the most talented dancers, and decided to support her career until the age of 16 by a series of grants that could pay her fees so she could study professionally. It was great to see their reactions to these totally unexpected outcomes.
Another example was a young black woman who by herself started a self-help group for impoverished young people who needed help. She provided them with minimal practical aid, such as painting equipment or courses, often out of her own pocket, and she was certainly not well-off. Because of threats from drug dealers, she was forced to leave the neighborhood where she worked and move back into her mother's house, with husband and three kids. The lady millionaire, who encountered her working from a table in the restaurant where she was a waitress, then bought her a lap-top, gave her a donation towards her work, and helped her buy her own home. What a great outcome. As she said, coming from the East End herself, she felt she needed to give something back! A lesson for us all.
PS. I understand that there is now a US version of "Secret Milliaonaire" but they have turned it into a TV show, and lost a lot of the personal aspects.
posted by Jack Cohen at 5:53 PM
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