The History of Oprah's Angel Network

In 1994, Oprah had a guest on her show, Nora, who came to talk about a simple project she started with her friends. Nora and her father, Ted, discussed how she started the Penny Harvest, collecting pennies to donate to charitable organizations. After all the penny collecting was done, Nora and her friends had raised $1,000. Oprah found inspiration in what one little girl was able to do -- "I started thinking, if you could do that, I wonder what I could do." The rest is Oprah Show history.

On an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in September of 1997, Oprah first asked viewers to send in their spare change to help others -- to donate to her new organization.

The response from the country was overwhelming. In the end, $3.5 million was raised and contributed to 150 deserving students to receive $25,000 college scholarships.

At the same time Oprah called upon her viewers to donate change, she also asked of them to donate their time -- by volunteering with Habitat for Humanity building houses. Oprah really can inspire change. After her suggestion, over 15,000 people became involved in building more that 200 new homes.

In 2000, Oprah began recognizing individuals and organizations that were really making an impact in their communities. The Use Your Life Awards joined Oprah with Paul Newman and Jeff Bezos from Amazon.com in an amazing partnership which helped 50 programs grow and make an even bigger impact for those in need.

After we all saw a part of our country devastated by the hurricanes, Oprah's Angel Network, and the contributions that have been made to the organization, stepped in to make a world of difference for the impacted families. Over $15 million has been donated to the organization since the hurricanes hit, giving Oprah's Angel Network the chance to build almost 300 homes in the area.

Since its inception in 1997, viewers have donated more than $70 million dollars to the Angel Network.

Building Schools

Contributions to the Angel Network have, to date, built 60 schools for children in 13 countries. One example is Seven Fountains, a primary school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Providing Books

With donations provided by viewers, the Angel Network has donated books to children in more than 27 countries. Most of these children received the very first book to call their own. Books were provided in Russia, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, and more countries around the world.

Providing Uniforms

In South Africa, children are not permitted to attend school without having a uniform -- and since many families cannot afford to buy this type of luxury, many students are blocked from receiving the education that they are craving. Donations from the Angel Network provided these children with more than $1 million dollars worth of new uniforms, and thus gave them an even bigger gift of an education.