Oprah Winfrey has donated over $1 million to the United Negro College Fund.
FILE – In this Jan. 7, 2018, file photo, Oprah Winfrey poses in the press room with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. Oprah Winfrey says she’s not interested in a presidential bid despite Democrats’ continuing buzz about the billionaire media icon. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
The 65-year-old media mogul has reportedly made a charitable donation of a whopping $1.15 million to the organization, which helps allow deserving area students to attend historically black colleges in America.
According to The Charlotte Observer, Oprah made the announcement over the weekend during a trip to North Carolina, whilst speaking at Charlotte’s 17th annual Maya Angelou Women Who Lead Luncheon.
Officials for the charity were hoping the luncheon would raise $500,000 for their cause, but at the time of Oprah’s speech, a running tally at the event showed that around $1.15 million had been raised.
Upon seeing the tally, the ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ actress announced she would be matching the current total, meaning she will now donate over $1 million to help award thousands of scholarships to black students hoping to get into college.
Oprah is known for her charitable donations, and 2018 she revealed she had donated more money to charity in the 20th century than “any other African American”.
The star made the confession as she revealed she was “impressed” when she Googled herself for the first time because she discovered so much about herself that she had never known.
She said: “I just have the most amazing life. I Googled myself the other day for the first time, I am so impressed with myself! This is what I didn’t know. I was the first African American self-made billionaire, [and] donated more to charity in the 20th century than any other African American. This is really good.”
Despite being hugely successful now, there was a time when Oprah was younger that she was “afraid” of what life would bring her.
When asked what her advice to her younger self would be, she said: “Oh, honey. Oh, baby girl, what the world has in store for you. First of all, it would be ‘relax,’ it would be, ‘stop being afraid,’ and it would be, ‘everything is going to be alright. No matter what it will all be OK.’ ”
