Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy School for Girls

There are plenty of incredibly rich celebrities who don't do much, if anything, to help those who are less fortunate than they are. Consequently, we love to loathe them. Oprah Winfrey certainly isn't one such celebrity. Deemed the richest African American in the world, Oprah Winfrey has used her dollars to aid charitable causes, and to put her beliefs into action. Oprah Winfrey believes education frees people. Recognizing the fact that many have the brains but not the means, she established a private charity called The Oprah Winfrey Foundation. The charity has awarded a great number of grants to organizations that support the empowerment of women, children and families here in the US and internationally. Oprah Winfrey has also donated more than forty million dollars toward the formation of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation for Girls. The Academy provides first-rate educational opportunities for underprivileged but high achieving girls in all nine provinces of South Africa. In 1998, Oprah Winfrey established the public charity Oprah's Angle Network. With the fifty million dollars raised so far Oprah's Angel Network has helped create scholarships and schools, develop youth centers and homes, and assist woman's shelters. Oprah Winfrey may be a billionaire, but since she is also a philanthropist, I celebrate her wealth rather than begrudging it.