I actually auditioned for “Oprah’s Big Give” reality show. For those of you who watched the first of eight installments of the show that aired on ABC last Sunday, obviously I did not make the cut … but it was quite an experience!
Last April—that’s when auditions were held in NYC—my sister and I jumped on a Greyhound bus (around 1:00 a.m.) and arrived in The Big Apple at approximately 3:00 a.m. You know how you see those outrageous lines of people on TV winding around buildings, bundled in every sweatshirt and fleece blanket they own? Yup, that was us on that early audition morn! But, we got there before the crowds, and were numbers six and seven in line!
When the doors opened at around 9:30 a.m., we were just about frostbitten. We got upstairs to the main auditorium where the auditions were being held and waited for our numbers to be called. When it was my turn, I approached one of the show’s producers, who, very gingerly, asked, “So, why do you want to give big?” Me: “I want to give big because when I was a young child …” Blah, blah, blah. I might as well had been talking to a brick wall because Madame Producer stared blankly down at her sheet of paper and stopped me in mid-sentence. She hurriedly thanked me for my time and pointed me in the direction of a door that, everyone quickly came to learn, was the “Don’t-Call-Us-Because-We-Won’t-Be-Calling-You” door. Nonetheless, I was optimistic (some people would call it naive), and only in late November, did I finally come to terms with maybe, just maybe the show won’t be calling…
My mother and I sat together and watched the first episode of The Big Give. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. The next day, I was speaking with one of my newest friends about the show and she confided that she’d sobbed the whole time through it, too. But this friend had reason to cry. At age 32, she and her husband are foster parents and caregivers to 10 children from displaced homes. She’d been taking care of children since she herself was a child—at age 12. She’d seen her life and current struggles of caring for a large family played out on TV.
At the beginning of our conversation, I’d excitedly told her that I’d auditioned for The Big Give. By the end of the conversation, she’d said to me, “Cynthia, you didn’t go all the way to New York in vain. Can you help me fundraise for my family?”
Duh, Cynthia! I surely didn’t have to go all the way to The Big Apple and try to get on TV in order to give big! I felt ashamed. I vowed that I would put all my efforts into helping her and her family get the resources and funding they so desperately need. There are people all around us that are in need of our help. Look around and find someone to give big to! It should be your pleasure.
‘Til we chat again…
Cynthia
