No Favorite Things Show from Oprah This Year

Every year, Oprah fans look forward to her Favorite Things episode, where she highlights some of the favorite things that she has discovered during the year. They run the gamut, from the reasonably priced to the extreme, giving a boon to many small businesses. But not this year.

Calling it her Pay It Forward Challenge, instead of giving away gifts this year to her audience members, she gave them each a $1,000 debit card (sponsored by Bank of America). She told them to spend the money on the charity of their choice. In explaining why she changed things this year, Oprah said, "I can honestly say that every gift I've ever given has brought at least as much happiness to me as it has to the person I've given it to. That's the feeling I want to pass on to you."

Good for her.

All 300 of her audience members were also given a Sony (Charts) DVD Handycam to record their charitable activities. "You're going to open your hearts, you're going to be really creative, and you're going to spend it all at once on one stranger or spend a dollar on every person," she said. "Imagine the love and kindness you can spread with $1,000."

And they definitely paid it forward, with some of the audience members turning the $1,000 into $71,000 and even $200,000, using the debit card that Oprah gave them, and getting community and company support for their individual projects.

Oprah never ceases to amaze me.

Photo from Oprah.com