Secret Millionaire debuts Sunday
ABC's Secret Millionaire is a one-hour reality series that follows some of American's most successful business people as they give up the comforts of home to reside in the country's neediest neighborhoods. Residing in local housing and subsisting on welfare wages, these "secret millionaires" keep their true identities hidden while they search for people and organizations that are dedicated to making life better for those in need.
In the season premier this Sunday, millionaire and world-renown artist Scott Jacobs (his biggest clients include Harley Davidson, and the Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe estates) and his 19 year-old youngest daughter, Alexa, leave behind their family and comfortable life in Rancho Sante Fe to spend six days in Newark. Jacobs and Alexa Jacobs were given $71.03 "” roughly what two people on welfare would receive a week for food.
Because of a contract, Scott Jacobs and those involved with the show must be careful about what they reveal about the show before it airs. But he was able to talk with his local paper, "The Coast News" about two brothers who work to get homeless veterans off the streets. They find them by waking up sleeping homeless wherever they are found, to determine if they are veterans so they can register them, have their teeth and eyes checked and try to get a roof over their heads. Scott Jacobs said, "We went out and found them under bridges or sleeping on a window sill." Alexa, the daughter is a college student with two jobs, she said, "I learned so much. I am not taking anything for granted. I always appreciated it, but now so much more."
The goal of the show and the "Millionaire" is to find deserving and extraordinary people who put their own needs aside for others. At the end of their journey, they reveal their true identity and donate their own money to these local heroes. Scott Jacobs admits you don't need to have money to donate your time and knowledge and hopes his daughters and the country takes that away from the show.
Three Newark organizations are featured in the show - we'll have to tune in to see what happens. Be on the look out for GlassRoots, GI-GO Fund, and IYO (International Youth Orgranization).
